HÀ NỘI — Kim Long Motor Huế Joint Stock Company has inaugurated a US$260 million engine manufacturing plant in partnership with China’s Yuchai Group in Chân Mây – Lăng Cô, Huế, marking a milestone in the country’s ambition to master core technologies in the automotive industry.

In the first phase, the Yuchai engine factory was developed in an area of 2.5 hectares and has an capacity of more than 40,000 internal combustion (diesel) engines a year in its first phase, equivalent to one engine every three minutes.

The facility with 90 per cent automated is capable of producing engines for multiple applications, including automobiles, marine vessels, agricultural machinery and generators, and operates under a smart factory model that allows full digital tracking of technical data for each engine.

In the next phase, the plant will be expanded to cover $6.4 hectares and further invest in automated lines to machine core components such as engine blocks, cylinder heads and crankshafts, with the aim of lifting localisation rates to around 80 per cent.

At the event, the first two engine models – the Yuchai K11 and Y24 – were officially delivered.

Kim Long Motor’s General Director Đào Viết Anh said that the Yuchai engine manufacturing plant together with the company’s large-scale stamping facility and supporting industries factories is expected to boost the Việt Nam’s manufacturing capability.

Deputy Chairman of Huế People’s Committee Phan Quý Phương said the Yuchai plant marked a turning point not only for Kim Long Motor but also for Việt Nam’s automotive industry in advancing the national strategy to develop a competitive domestic auto sector.

Phương urged the efforts to speed up the construction of the next phase following the approved roadmap while pledging to create the most favourable conditions for the investor, including land clearance. — VNS