Vietnam is one of the key markets for Tata Motors and the Indian company has been collaborating with its Vietnamese partner, TMT Motors, to assemble and distribute products suitable with local consumers.

For now, the auto manufacturer will focus only on commercial vehicles, trucks specifically, said Girish Wagh, president of Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at Tata Motors. This strategy is backed by TMT Motors.

Bui Van Huu, TMT Motors chairman, said that dramatic urban development changes have been seen over the last three years in Ho Chi Minh City, and it plans to further develop its infrastructure. This is happening in other parts of the country as well, and trucks are needed to meet Vietnam’s development needs, he said.

The two company leaders were speaking on the sidelines of an event organized Thursday in HCMC to launch Tata Ultra, a new truck model, and a new version of the Tata Super Ace, first launched in Vietnam in 2016.

The Tata Ultra and the new Tata Super Ace version are all fully-assembled and distributed in Vietnam by TMT Motors.

The two companies hope to sell 300 units of Tata Ultra by the year-end and target sales of 1,000 units by next year.

National sales of autos rose 5.8 percent over 2017 to 288,700 units last year, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA).