Auto firm THACO enters motorbike market

By Dat Nguyen March 1, 2020 | 11:14 pm PT

Motorbike drivers on Hanoi Highway in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Vietnam’s leading auto firm THACO has set up a company to make motorbikes, signaling its entry into a crowded market dominated by foreign players.

THACO Motorcycle Manufacturing Llc, with a charter capital of VND10 billion ($432,900), is based in the Chu Lai Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam, the same location as its auto business, according to a company filing.

Its registered businesses are manufacturing and selling of motorbikes and parts, and its legal representative is Tran Ba Duong, THACO chairman.

THACO produces buses and trucks, assembles Peugeot, Kia and Mazda cars and distributes high-end BWM motorbikes.

Vietnam’s motorbike sales last year were second only to Indonesia’s in ASEAN and fourth globally at 3.27 million units, according to Italy-based market research firm Motorcycles Data.

Honda accounted for 78 percent of the market, with its closest rivals being another Japanese brand, Yamaha, and Taiwan’s SYM.