Chinese state owned automaker Chery Automobile has agreed to build an US$800m assembly plant in Vietnam through a joint venture (JV) with a private local company, the ministry of trade said in a statement after a signing ceremony on Thursday.
The automaker’s Omoda & Jaecoo unit would establish the JV with Geleximco, a diversified Hanoi-based property, finance and industrial group, to establish and manage the electric vehicle (EV) plant to be built in the coastal province of Thai Binh.
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Chery was expected to become the first Chinese company to produce EVs in Vietnam, taking the lead from automakers such as BYD which had yet to confirm local production plans.
The Thai Binh factory would ultimately have capacity for 200,000 units per year, producing Omoda and Jaecoo brand passenger vehicles.
The facility would target local sales and other left hand drive markets in the region.
The first phase of construction was scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
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By GlobalDataChery planned to launch two new EV models in Vietnam by the end of the year and establish a sales network ahead of local production.
Chery already produces vehicles in Indonesia with local assembler PT Handal Indonesia Motor. The factory near Jakarta began producing the Omoda 5E EV at the end of last year in addition to the existing Tiggo and Omoda 5.
The automaker was also considering building a plant in Thailand, south east Asia’s largest EV market, but had yet to make a formal announcement.
