Truong Hai Auto Joint Stock Company has launched the first Kia Cerato Forte car assembled at its factory in central Vietnam .

Truong Hai Auto, whose Thaco Kia factory is located in the Chu Lai economic zone in Quang Nam Province, is the first Vietnamese company to assemble this kind of car outside Korea.

Since it debuted in Korea last year, the Kia Cerato Forte has been known as Cerato in Korea and Forte in foreign markets. More than 2,200 Cerato Forte units have been imported into Vietnam since March last year.

Truong Hai Auto signed a cooperation deal with Korea’s Hyundai - Kia Motors Group in April 2007 and has since built and run the factory in Quang Nam with total capital of VND1.1 trillion.

The factory turned out the first Kia Morning in March 2008, then the seven-seat Kia Carens. Truong Hai Auto has so far sold nearly 4,600 Kia Morning and 2,700 Kia Carens in Vietnam.

The local automaker expects to trade shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange in October this year with Sacombank Securities Co. serving as an advisor.