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Produced in 125 and 150cc versions, the
Vespa LX is constructed entirely in the
Piaggio Group’s new factory in Vietnam,
which handles all welding, painting, final
assembly, testing and quality control
processes. |
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Piaggio Vietnam Ltd., the Vietnamese subsidiary
of the Piaggio Group, announced the official
launch on the local market of Vespa LX scooters,
manufactured in the Piaggio factory in the Binh
Xuyen Industrial Park (province of Vinh Phuc).
The presentation ceremony for the new Vespa was
held today at Piaggio Vietnam Ltd. Among those
attending the ceremony were Vietnam’s Deputy
Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, as well as
Italy’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Andrea Perugini.
For the Piaggio
Group, a delegation of top managers from Italy were present,
led by Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Roberto
Colaninno. The Vietnamese subsidiary was represented by
Costantino Sambuy, Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Operating Officer of Piaggio Vietnam Ltd. and Piaggio Group
two-wheeler Market Manager for Asia.
Produced in 125
and 150cc versions, the Vespa LX is constructed entirely in
the Piaggio Group’s new factory in Vietnam, which handles
all welding, painting, final assembly, testing and quality
control processes. By the end of 2009, the Piaggio Vietnam
Ltd. factory will have more than 250 employees on a surface
area of more than 135,000 square metres. It was built and
equipped in less than two years, with an overall investment
by the Piaggio Group until production start-up of more than
30 million US dollars. When fully operational, the facility
will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles;
in the future, this capacity may be doubled, if necessary,
on the same Vinh Phuc site. Piaggio Vietnam Ltd. is the most
important Italian investment in Vietnam and plays a key
strategic role for the Piaggio Group in geographical terms.
Sales of Vespa scooters produced in Vietnam are initially
estimated at approximately 15,000 units during the second
half of 2009.
Piaggio Group
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Roberto Colaninno said:
"After establishing a presence in India and China, with the
marketing start-up of Vespa scooters produced in Vietnam
Piaggio now completes its strategic investment plan in Asia,
taking a new step of the greatest importance towards the
globalisation of its production operations. We take great
pride in the fact that with this initiative, undertaken in
an exceptionally short space of time thanks to effective
cooperation between the Italian and Vietnamese Governments
and between Piaggio and the national and local authorities,
our Group has created the most important Italian investment
in Vietnam, an extraordinarily young and rapidly expanding
country. And it has done so with the Vespa, a product and
brand already highly respected on the local market,
confirming its position as an authentic object of desire all
over the world.”
Europe’s leading
constructor of two-wheel motor vehicles and one of the
global industry’s primary players, the Piaggio Group has a
strong, consolidated presence on its European domestic
market, in Asia and in North America. The Piaggio Group
product range comprises scooters, motorcycles and mopeds in
50 to 1,200cc displacement categories, for the Piaggio,
Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi and Scarabeo
brands. The Piaggio Group is also active in the three- and
four-wheel light transport sector, with the Ape, Porter and
Quargo commercial vehicle ranges. In 2008 the Piaggio Group
sold a total of 648,600 vehicles worldwide (scooters,
motorcycles and three/four-wheel vehicles), of which 470,500
in the two-wheeler business and 178,100 in the commercial
vehicle business.
In the three-
and four-wheel light transport sector, Group operations in
Asia reflect the growing success of the fully owned Indian
subsidiary Piaggio Vehicles Private Ltd. (PVPL), based in
Baramati (Mumbai). In just five years, PVPL has more than
tripled its sales volumes, from 49,600 vehicles produced in
2003 to 159,000 vehicles sold in 2008, to rank as the
outright leader on the Indian market. Later this year, PVPL
will begin production of 1,000 and 1,200cc Diesel and
turbodiesel Piaggio engines at the Baramati industrial
complex, where work is being completed on the new powertrain
plant. The engines produced in Baramati will equip the new
commercial vehicle ranges built by the Group in Europe (Pontedera)
and India.
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