Tasco Auto, the automotive arm of Vietnam's Tasco group, has bought truck maker Vinh Phat Motors, better known as VM Motors, and intends to reshape the company around fully electric commercial vehicles, including electric trucks, vans and other new-energy products.
VM Motors was founded in 2015 and runs an assembly plant in a Ho Chi Minh City automotive industrial park that came online in 2017. It has built trucks using technology transferred from Isuzu Qingling, the Japanese brand's Chinese truck venture, assembling models from CKD kits and backing the NK light-truck and GINGA heavy-truck ranges with warranties that follow Isuzu standards.
The company already has a small track record in electrification: it put one of Vietnam's first pure-electric vans into service, a Dongfeng model imported in fully built form for an express-delivery logistics partner. That van pairs a 42-54 kWh battery with a 70 kW motor, manages roughly 260 km per charge and carries a 945 kg payload.
Next, the two companies aim to upgrade assembly and inspection capability for electric vehicles, covering battery systems, electric drive units and high-voltage safety, while training technicians, with the first electric product batch targeted for 2027. They are also weighing a standalone brand for new-energy commercial vehicles, though no name or models have been confirmed. Tasco brings to the venture its existing strengths in distribution, after-sales service, infrastructure, insurance and finance.