Hanoi (VNA) - TruongHai Auto Corporation, or THACO, has exported 40 Kia Grand Carnival cars toThailand.

The vehicles, which have 2.2L diesel engines, were manufactured at the THACOKia Plant in the THACO Chu Lai Industry Park in Quang Nam province.

This is THACO’s first shipment to the market, the first step in its goal toexporting more than 1,600 vehicles for 50 million USD this year.

Yontrakit Kia Motor Co., Ltd, headquartered in Bangkok, an authorised importerand distributor of Kia passenger vehicles in Thailand, is the importer.

The cars were loaded on the ship at Cat Lai port in HCM City.

Kia Grand Carnival (known as Kia Sedona in the Vietnamese market), has uniqueand sophisticated design, modern features, comfort, and a spacious interiorwith 11 seats, and right hand drive to meet Thai traffic laws.

In addition, with its outstanding performance and exciting driving experience,Kia Grand Carnival can well serve the needs of Thai customers.

Many components used in the cars such as hub cabs, batteries, tyres, speakers,and horns are produced in the country or imported from Southeast Asiacountries.

The production process has been put under rigorous quality testing inaccordance with Kia’s global standards.  

The car bodies are painted in a colour coating line that uses the newwet-on-wet paint technology and automatic paint feeding system, meetingstringent requirements and offering a variety of customised colours.

Car components and bodies are assembled on conveyor belts that are 80 per centautomated. Large components such as the engine, gearbox and front and rearaxles are assembled and tested on separate lines and transported by AGV(automatic guided vehicle) systems to connect to the vehicle body, ensuringprecision during the assembly process.

The cars, before leaving the plant, are tested using advanced equipment tocheck the angle for placing wheels, lights, rotation speed, and brakes, andtaken for a test drive on a 2.4km test track at the THACO-Chu Lai IndustrialPark, which fully simulates actual terrain with ramps, slippery roads, gravel,winding stretches, and flat roads.

Meeting Kia Group’s global quality standards and having a local content rate ofover 40 percent, the Kia Grand Carnival cars meet the regional value content(RVC) of products, thereby enjoying preferential import tax rates of 0 per centunder the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.

In the Thai market, the Kia Grand Carnival is a popular high-end multi-purposecar that enjoys consistent sales growth.

At the recent 2019 Thailand International Motor Show, Yontrakit introduced theKia Grand Carnival model made in Vietnam and received positive feedback fromcustomers.

In 2020, THACO plans to export 480 Kia Grand Carnival cars to Thailand, promotevarious Kia cars in Myanmar and Thailand and expand to other markets such asMalaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines.

To realise this goal, THACO is focusing on developing export products that meetthe specific requirements of partners and markets as well as the standards andregulations of importing countries, and increasing the local parts rate to meetthe regional value content criteria and reduce costs and participate moredeeply in the global automobile production value chain./.