HANOI (ThomsonFinancial) - Italy's Piaggio group said Tuesday it's building its first plant in Vietnam, producing Vespa motorcycles at a factory worth 30 million dollars as part of its strategy to expand in Asia.
The plant, to be located in northern Vinh Phuc province near the capital Hanoi, is scheduled to produce 50,000 scooters per year, with the first locally-made bikes to hit the market in 2009, the company said in a statement.
Motorcycles are the most popular means of transport in the nation of 84 million people. Vietnam has more than 18 million registered motorbikes, and their number is growing by more than two million a year.
afp/cl - cl/cl COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.