Vietnam's Hot EV Automaker VinFast

  Debuts New Electric Vehicles at CES 2022 Las Vegas

                                            

                                                               Source:  VinFast

Vietnam's Global Automaker

VinFast is a fast growth, startup automaker based in Vietnam.  It debuted several new electric vehicles at the Consumer Electronics Show 2022 (CES) in Las Vegas.  And it hit gold, landing its first corporate fleet customer in the US - biotech Artemis DNA.  Artemis ordered 100 VinFast electric vehicles.  VinFast works with the renowned Italian design studio Pininfarina and Torino.  The EV maker's sales shot up more than 21% in 2021, despite the global pandemic.

VF EVs Coming to the US, Europe and Asia

At CES 2022, VinFast debuted the VF 8 and the VF 9, mid-sized and full sized, electric SUVs that will be the first VF cars available in the US later in 2022.  They come with Level 2 autonomous driving systems and will later be equipped with Level 4 autonomous driving.  The company says their electric vehicles have a range of more than 300 miles on a charge. 

Novel Car Purchase Approach 

VinFast's approach to customer sales is very different.  The customer buys the cars but leases the battery system.  The company says they will replace any battery that falls below 70% of its original capacity.  They add their EVs are less expensive to operate than gas powered cars. The VinFast VF 8 starts at $41,000 and the VF 9 starts at $56,000. The EVs come with a warranty of ten years. The company is run by a woman, CEO & Vice Chairman Le Thi Thu Thuy.

Very Fast Growth Company

VinFast is the automotive manufacturing subsidiary of VinGroup, a conglomerate that has also focused on real estate, technology and health care. VinFast started delivering EVs to customers in Vietnam in late 2021.  It is rapidly expanding globally and has established a US headquarters in Los Angeles.  It will start manufacturing vehicles in the US in 2024.  VinFast, which had been making combustion engine cars, is said to be the first automaker in the world to end the production of combustion engine cars and go totally electric by the end of 2022.