Vietnam’s first national automaker – VinFast – is looking to make big strides in the automotive industry, as it is aiming to sell electric vehicles to the United States in 2021. The decision is a bold one, and even involves company founder Pham Nhat Vuong investing as much as US$2 billion of his own fortune to attain that goal, Bloomberg reports.
“Our ultimate goal is to create an international brand. It will be a very difficult road and we will have to put in a lot of effort. But there’s only one road ahead,” said Vuong, who also owns 49% of VinFast, while the parent, Vingroup, holds 51%.
According to Vuong, the automaker won’t be profitable for as many as five years, and will require overseas sales to see green as the local Vietnamese market is “too small.” This won’t be easy, as the company will have to win over customers in the United States and other developed market, which have strict emissions and safety standards.
Currently, VinFast offers the Fadil hatchback, the LUX A2.0 sedan, LUX SA2.0 SUV and electric scooters in its home market, with production of these vehicles taking place at a 335-hectare factory in the northern port city of Haiphong. Its first EV won’t enter production until late next year, but Vuong plans to export those vehicles to the U.S. as well as Europe and Russia in 2021.
“We have the desire to build a Vietnamese brand that has a world-class reputation. Our biggest challenge is that Vietnamese products do not have an international brand. To many international friends, Vietnam is still a poor, backward country. We will have to find a way to market and prove our products represent a dynamic and developing Vietnam that has reached the highest standards of the world,” Vuong said.
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Good luck Vinfast. We Malaysian are taking into the sky for our trasportation, as mentioned by our high IQ kereta terbang minister.
Meanwhile our crappy PM wishes to do the same with USD $245mil. Basically 10X less than Vinfast. OMG!
You see what is needed by other people, and we have ministers playing Monopoly with our very real monies and they don’t care if it fails because it’s not their money.
Malassia more advance hv frying cart
Well good luck selling to USA! white haus definately will imposed 100 percentage tariffs on every viet cong cars landing on USA shores.
They haven’t impose tariffs onto Vietnam exports yet.
The new sedan is certainly quite the looker, with limited units already seen on Saigon roads about 2 weeks ago while I was there. Looks like they are indeed planning to make a mark, with a number of new dealership and showrooms under renovation and opening soon.
That’s some real deep pockets. Vinfast will need it. Tall order to get into the US market.