Castrol launches solution for congested urban areas in Vietnam

In cities across Vietnam, high population density means the number of vehicles will increase, leading to heavy traffic and congestion. For instance, Ho Chi Minh City had about 786,000 cars, and Hanoi nearly 700,000 by the end of 2020.

Traffic congestion has cost both cities $1.3 billion and $1.2 billion a year respectively, according to the Transport Development and Strategy Institute. The data describes how these damages caused by traffic jams include loss of hourly wages, fuel consumption, environmental pollution, and cause engine-related losses for car owners, not only in these two cities, but across regions in Vietnam. Even car engines equipped with the most modern Stop-Start technology cannot work well in these operating conditions.

Throughout the decades, Castrol has constantly tried to research and develop quality lubricants to provide the community with optimal solutions for vehicles in many countries around the world. Castrol developed its reinvented Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 API SP formulation specifically to address local challenges.

Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 API SP engine oil, a lubricant solution for congested urban areas. Photo by Castrol

The molecule in Dualock technology clings like a magnet, locking together on the engine surface to create a powerful, 50-percent increased protection in warm-up and re-start wear. These unique molecular components protect car engines right from the start, in all driving conditions and even when the engine is off.

Rohit Talwar, marketing director of Castrol Vietnam, said: “The rapid growth of Cars in Vietnam presents as exciting opportunity as penetration levels will rise significantly in the next few years. We chose to launch this new generation of Castrol Magnatec with Dualock technology because of the critical need of our consumers in Vietnam’s urban driving environment, and our long-standing commitment to the local market here. Vietnam is the 1st market to launch this product with a new communication campaign that will be seen across multimedia touchpoints including innovative 3-D billboards.”

Dualock technology is the result of 10 years of research and development to create a lubricant specifically engineered for today’s urban driving environment and designed to protect engines against the wear caused by re-starting in busy traffic. Castrol’s seven global R&D centers in five countries are in partnership with one of the world leading universities to develop specifically formulated lubricants for vehicles in congested cities.