TC Motor to sell Skoda cars from next year

Under a deal it signed with Skoda Auto in Hanoi on Oct. 7, TC will start by distributing imported Skoda cars first before assembling them.

The two firms plan to build a plant in the northern province of Quang Ninh, with the first vehicles expected to roll out of it late next year at the earliest.

Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian country where Skoda will build a factory. It plans to export vehicles assembled in Vietnam to other countries in the region.

Skoda makes 11 models, with the Octavia being its bestseller, but the two companies have not revealed which model will be sold first in Vietnam.

Last year, the Czech firm sold nearly 900,000 vehicles in some 100 markets around the world, with Germany and Russia being the biggest.