Cambodia's nascent automotive industry may leap forward into hybrid electric vehicle manufacturing with the establishment of a car factory by a local company, Heng Development. A joint venture with a German firm will see construction begin in February on a 20-ha plot that is located 20 km south of Phnom Penh. (Heng Development, which currently deals in tractors, cement and land, has declined to name its German partner until the official launch.) Heng Development has stated that the factory will be finished in six months, and will have around 300 workers producing up to 1,000 plug-in electric hybrid vehicles in the first year, using parts imported from Germany, Japan and Hong Kong. Two "mini-passenger-car" models, a two-seater and a four-seater, will be produced that are to be sold in Cambodia as well as being exported.

A local maker of hand-built, "eccentric" miniature cars, Nhean Pholet, has been employed by Heng Development. Nhean Pholet said that the company's car models would be similar to those that he had previously produced in a small Phnom Penh workshop from an assortment of spare parts. The first cars are expected to go on sale in 2012 and will be priced from around US$5,000 in Cambodia, a competitive price given that even second-hand models in mediocre condition command a high local value. Heng Development claimed that "partners" have already ordered around 1,000 vehicles. However, Nhean Pholet's ad hoc technology may not scale up well, and there could be problems with the manufacture of complicated hybrid vehicles, given the lack of an automotive industry in Cambodia.