Geely to open Vietnam manufacturing plant in 2025 – Proton-built LHD Coolray only a stopgap measure

Geely is set to open a manufacturing plant in Vietnam as part of its localised manufacturing plans in several markets, the carmaker announced during a presentation at the Indonesian debut of the Geely EX5 electric SUV.

Vietnam is one of several regions that will form Geely’s localised manufacturing plans, which include Indonesia, with the new manufacturing plant in Bekasi, West Jawa where CKD production for the Indonesian market will begin in the second quarter of this year.

Other markets with localised manufacturing plans in the pipeline are Central Asia and Africa, according to the presentation by Geely Auto deputy general manager Evin Ye.

For Vietnam, Geely signed a joint venture agreement in September 2024 with Tasco Auto and the Thai Binh Economic Zones Management Board, as well as a distribution agreement for the Geely brand in the country. The agreement with Tasco Auto is for a manufacturing facility estimated to cost $168 million (RM747 million) with an annual production capacity of 75,000 units, the Vietnam Investment Review reported.

The agreement will also see Tasco and Geely collaborate to draw more investors into completing the supply chain for components and spare parts, to invest in the construction of an automotive research and development centre for Southeast Asia, establish a university for automotive technical training, and to invest in the production of vehicle-human connectivity-oriented smartphones in the Tien Hai Economic Zone.

Output from this manufacturing facility is to serve the domestic Vietnamese market, as well as left-hand-drive export markets. Construction of this plant is expected to break ground in the first half of this year, with the first customer vehicles from this plant to be delivered in early 2026, the report added.

This means that the 200-unit production run of the Geely Coolray in left-hand-drive form for Vietnam is merely a stopgap measure, before production of the crossover for that market shifts to localised assembly in Vietnam. Yesterday, images posted to the Proton X50 Community Malaysia Facebook page showed a vehicle transporter trailer loaded with Geely Coolray-badged models heading to Port Klang.

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