Can Thaco’s in-house car brand jump-start sliding assembly sales?

[HO CHI MINH CITY] For years, Thaco founder and chairman Tran Ba Duong and Vingroup founder and chairman Pham Nhat Vuong have been benchmarked against each other on their net worth and the scale of their infrastructure bets, including their high-speed rail ambitions.

Now, the stakes have shifted to a more structural challenge: Can Thaco transition from an assembler to Vietnam’s second home-grown passenger car brand after electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast, also founded by Vuong?

Thaco’s move is no doubt a defensive play as its traditional assembly and distribution business under foreign brands – from South Korea’s Kia, Japan’s Mazda to France’s Peugeot and Germany’s BMW – shows signs of strain. Its line-up also includes British brand Mini, with American marques Jeep and Ram expected to join.