The car brand VinFast is still very young, but its ambitions are gigantic. As of this year, this Vietnamese manufacturer plans to market its first vehicles in North America, then offer a range of five fully electric SUVs soon.
The journalist from Car guide Julien Amado recently traveled to Vietnam to discover the VinFast facilities and carry out a first test drive. To discuss it, Antoine Joubert and Frédéric Mercier received him on the show The Car Guide on QUB Radio.
huge conglomerate
VinFast is one of the many divisions of the VinGroup conglomerate, whose tentacles touch just about every area in Vietnam. “There are VinHomes for housing and even universities called VinUni”, summarizes Julien Amado, who was even able to see the scale of the projects carried out by this company.
VinFast, for its part, is still in its infancy. “It’s not even five years old”, exclaims Julien Amado, who recalls that this automotive branch of VinGroup was only launched at the end of 2017. If the manufacturer today wishes to develop its own vehicles 100 % electric, its debut on the Vietnamese market began rather thanks to partnerships with other manufacturers. “It started with the VinFast Fadil, which is actually a Chevrolet Spark with plastic bumpers and a slightly redone grille,” summarizes the journalist. VinFast then partnered with BMW to offer a more upscale sedan and SUV.
Convincing first attempt
The first model to set foot on Canadian soil will be the VinFast VF 8, a utility in a format that straddles that of a compact and an intermediate. On a closed circuit of a few kilometers, Julien Amado was able to carry out a first test behind the wheel of this electric model.
“It’s serious what they did. You get in there and it looks like a Tesla, ”he exclaims, pointing out that a large 15-inch touch screen sits in the center of the console and centralizes almost all of the controls. The automotive journalist, however, said he remained on his appetite for the quality of the interior presentation. Overall, the first impression was still very positive.
The technical details remain to be confirmed, but one particular strategy has caught the attention of Canadian consumers: that of leasing the battery separately from the purchase price of the vehicle. “They firmly believe in that […] We were told that the advantage is that if the battery ever loses autonomy during the first three years and it drops to less than 70% of its capacity, we will replace it free of charge,” explains Julien Amado.
Excluding the rental of the battery, the amount of which has not yet been determined, the VinFast VF 8 will be available from $51,250 in Canada.
A state-of-the-art factory
In addition to testing the VinFast VF 8, Julien Amado also took advantage of his visit to Vietnam to visit the VinFast factory in the city of Hai Phong in the north of the country. “These are gigantic installations. […] They bought all the best German and Swedish machines,” the journalist wonders, imagining that this factory is easily comparable to a European or North American establishment. Julien Amado was also amazed to find that the factory is made up of adaptable production lines that can build both electric and gasoline-powered models.
For the North American market, VinFast has already announced the upcoming construction of a new factory in North Carolina. The first vehicles from the manufacturer are expected on our roads this fall.
News of the week
During this show, we also discussed the upcoming changes to the federal subsidy program for the purchase of electric vehicles and the major unveilings of the 2022 edition of the New York Auto Show.
Road tests
The two presenters gave their impressions of the recently tested BMW iX and Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing.
Answers to questions from the public
Antoine Joubert and Frédéric Mercier ended the program by answering questions from some listeners.
The Car Guideit’s every Saturday at 10 a.m. on QUB Radio, repeating on Sunday at 6 p.m.