VinFast: will Vietnam’s new locally made car take off?
- The company has launched luxury models in an effort to win over local consumers and avoid the fate of Malaysia’s Proton
- But in a land where foreign brands are often seen as a symbol of success it has its work cut out in winning over the sceptics
VinFast’s ambition to become the national car brand of Vietnam has gone up a gear with the first deliveries of its two luxury models to customers.
With the recent roll-out of the Lux A2.0, a sedan that retails for US$65,000, and the Lux SA2.0 SUV that starts at US$86,000, the automobile company owned by Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private corporation, hopes to avoid the fate of other Southeast Asian car companies, such as Malaysia’s Proton, that have launched with much fanfare only to stall later on.
The two models, which have been designed by Pininfarina and based on technology purchased from the likes of BMW, are central to the company’s desire to be taken seriously as a brand – a desire reflected in their flashy international debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, an event that included an appearance by David Beckham.
As Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast’s chairwoman, put it: “VinFast has the vision to become one of the top automobile manufacturers in the world, converging the quintessence of the automobile industry to create world-class products which deliver the value that Vietnamese people can be proud of and are affordable to Vietnamese customers.”
