On January 31, 2009 were handed over 500 buses powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) to the Sonadezi Company in Dong Nai, Vietnam, by the Thanh Cong Automobile Corporation.

   The buses, manufactured by Daewoo, are the first based on natural gas to be used in Vietnam. Each vehicle will save 8.308 dollars on fuel costs a year, while being friendly to the environment at the same time. The exhaust fumes of a bus powered by CNG contain 60% less carbon monoxide and 10% less nitrogen oxide than those from a normal bus.

   Petro Dong Nai will supply the compressed gas to Sonadezi Company to use those buses to transport workers in industrial zones of the Asian country. Major cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh also will put into circulation CNG buses during 2009.

   As planed, Thanh Cong Corporation will complete the Auto Assembling Factory No. 2 in Ninh Binh province by the end of 2009, after which the CNG buses can be assembled in the country instead of having to be imported.