Fame. Experience. Expertise. Do these values still have any resonance with consumers when they decide on a new vehicle?
Posted at 8:45 a.m.
The question arises at a time when new car brands are backfiring like popcorn. In fact, what do you know of Rivian, Lucid Air, Imperium or VinFast which will soon try to seduce you? Probably very few things. But these young shoots will find a way out of anonymity by offering either free stays (air transport excluded) in Taiwan, or a power beyond comprehension (1111 hp).
Endless possibilities
Fifty years after the Lada, Skoda and Dacia and thirty years after the Hyundai, new brands are trying to find a place for themselves on a chessboard that was said to be already very crowded. And to succeed, these brand new electrified signs do not intend to rely, like the aforementioned brands, on the classic “beautiful, good, cheap”. At least not the majority of them.
In fact, the Lucid Air or VinFast are aimed, like Tesla, at the most chic segments of the industry and are not afraid to rub shoulders with traditional elitist signatures. Not without reason. The starting premise being that the electrification of the automobile resets the counters to zero and opens up possibilities. Tesla has so far demonstrated this eloquently. The electric revolution offers all these new players a favorable opportunity to assert themselves.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY VINFAST
Vinfast, a Vietnamese brand founded in 2017, is a subsidiary of Vin Group, which specializes in tourism, real estate, education, health and retail. And now in the automobile.
A risk to run?
Tired of waiting for an electric model whose delivery keeps being postponed? These new brands could represent, in the eyes of some buyers, an alternative to consider.
That said, if electric vehicles require less maintenance than gasoline-powered cars (20% to 30% less expensive), that does not mean that they are unfailingly reliable.
If the powertrain generally presents (remember this word) few problems, several British (Which? Car), American (Consumer Reports) and Quebec (Protect yourself) point out that it is not infallible for all that.
Among the malfunctions most often mentioned are electronic defects (these usually immobilize the vehicle for a longer period), but also construction quality. And these troubles do not only affect young shoots. Established brands also suffer from poor results on some of their models.