The business results were announced by Thaco Group in a financial statement to the Hanoi Stock Exchange last week.

In the first half of the year, Thaco reported about VND1.07 trillion ($45.4 million) in after-tax profit, equivalent to almost 25 per cent of the same period last year. The profit margin also decreased by nearly five times, down to 2.1 per cent on-year.

The domestic car market has remained sluggish for around a year, so numerous models assembled and distributed by Thaco have had their prices reduced by $5,000-10,000 in an attempt to stimulate demand.

Earlier this year, chairman Tran Ba Duong predicted that this year's car market would be weaker compared to 2022, and competition would become increasingly fierce. However, the business still set a yearly sales target of over 120,000 vehicles, which covered 96,000 passenger cars, 23,500 trucks, and 1,500 buses and minibuses.

Thaco Auto, the key company of the group, is expected to achieve a consolidated revenue of over VND90 trillion ($3.8 billion) for the year, including VND5.2 trillion ($219.4 million) from services.

According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association, in the first eight months of the year, Thaco sold 58,000 vehicles, down 40 per cent on-year and only reaching just under half of the annual target.

As of the end of June, the vehicle manufacturer's equity reached over VND50 trillion ($2.1 billion). Thaco Group's debt-to-equity ratio is 2.29 times, with a debt of about VND115 trillion ($4.85 billion) – an increase of about 27 per cent on-year.