Surprise at the largest Ford car distributor in Vietnam

Mr. Tran Ngoc Dan – Chairman of City Auto Board of Directors – Photo: CTF

The story of the father as chairman and the son as general director

The change in the general director position of City Atuo Joint Stock Company (CTF) took place just a few days after TNG Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company was punished for appointing a general director who had a family relationship with the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Notably, City Auto is also a public company with the status of "father is chairman, son is general director".

Specifically, in the personnel change notice sent to the Securities Commission on January 3, City Auto said the board of directors had approved the resignation of Mr. Tran Lam as general director.

Mr. Lam is the son of Mr. Tran Ngoc Dan - who is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and legal representative of City Auto. The Board of Directors of City Auto has assigned Mr. Dan to carry out the relevant procedures according to regulations.

Mr. Lam is responsible for handing over all work content according to his current position and related documents as assigned by the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Tran Lam

Notably, Mr. Lam has only been in the "hot seat" of general director for exactly 1 month - since December 3, 2024.

Mr. Lam's predecessor, Mr. Nguyen Dang Hoang, has submitted his resignation.

According to the management report for the first 6 months of this year, Mr. Tran Ngoc Dan holds 9.23% of City Auto's charter capital, while his son Tran Lam holds 8.4%.

Mr. Lam was born in 1983 and is introduced as a bachelor of Algonquin College (Canada).

The company's annual report said that before becoming the general director of City Auto, Mr. Lam had leadership experience in many businesses.

During the period 2007 - 2010, he was the director of Nissan Automobile Joint Stock Company, then the director of UK Automobile Joint Stock Company from 2010 - 2013. From 2013 - 2018, Mr. Lam was the deputy general director of Tan Thanh Do Group Joint Stock Company and from 2019 to present, he has been the general director of this company.

In addition, from 2017 to present, Mr. Lam is also a member of the Board of Directors of City Auto.

Besides Mr. Lam, Mr. Dan also has another son named Tran Long who also holds 8.01% of City Auto's capital.

According to the 2023 annual report, City Auto still maintains its position as the leading car distributor in the system for two car brands: Ford and Hyundai in Vietnam.

Of which, City Auto achieved the leading sales nationwide with the Ford brand, and also ranked first in the Southern region with Hyundai cars. By the end of 2023, this company will have 11 showrooms selling Ford cars and 6 showrooms selling Hyundai cars.

The 2023 financial report shows that although the car market is still difficult, City Auto's revenue still reached 7,385 billion VND, a sharp increase compared to the previous year.

Why punish the company "father is chairman, son is general director"?

Recently, the Chief Inspector of the Department of Planning and Investment of Thai Nguyen province has just issued a decision to impose an administrative penalty on TNG Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company (TNG). The decision clearly stated that TNG Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company committed an administrative violation when appointing General Director Nguyen Duc Manh, who has a family relationship (son) with the business manager, Chairman of the Board of Directors Nguyen Van Thoi.

The Inspector of the Department of Planning and Investment of Thai Nguyen province affirmed that this appointment did not meet the conditions prescribed in Point b, Clause 5, Article 162 of the Law on Enterprises.

According to research, point b, clause 5, article 162 of the Law on Enterprises stipulates: "For public companies, state-owned enterprises and subsidiaries of state-owned enterprises, the director or general director must meet the following standards and conditions: Must not be a family member of the enterprise manager, controller of the company and parent company; representative of state capital, representative of enterprise capital at the company and parent company".

An expert said that a public joint stock company is no longer an enterprise owned by an individual. Therefore, the law has strict regulations on transparency, information disclosure, and operation methods, and the establishment of a human resource mechanism to ensure the public nature of that enterprise.

The above regulation limits and eliminates acts of "family rule", ensuring democracy and the legitimate rights of the majority of shareholders are implemented in accordance with the law and charter of public joint stock companies.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bat-ngo-o-cong-ty-phan-phoi-xe-ford-lon-nhat-viet-nam-2025010413530178.htm