VinFast became Vietnam's first homegrown automaker in 2019, when it began selling two gasoline-powered cars in the domestic market: the Lux A2.0 sedan and the Lux SA2.0 SUV. Now, the nascent firm has revealed ambitions to expand into North America and Europe, with sales in the United States expected to begin in March 2022. Globally, the automaker's portfolio will be dominated by electric crossovers.
Last year, VinFast sold around 30,000 automobiles in Vietnam. Although the firm has yet to earn a profit, it is rapidly developing in Vietnam, where it has risen to become the fourth most popular automobile brand this year, with an 8.3 percent market share. The firm is a subsidiary of Vingroup JSC, Vietnam's biggest conglomerate. Vinfast said in a statement Monday that it has launched offices in North America and Europe and plans to build showrooms in California in the near future. Additionally, the business said that Van Anh Nguyen, CEO of VinFast's United States operation, had relocated from Vietnam to the United States.
VinFast has stated that it need more capital for its growth goals, indicating that it would either do an initial public offering on the US stock market or combine with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (like electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors did this year).
VinFast had initially planned to launch an offering in the second quarter of this year to seek $2 billion in cash, but the offering was postponed, according to Reuters.
VinFast currently produces five automobiles. The Lux A2.0 is based on the F10-generation BMW 5-series, while the Lux SA2.0 is based on the F15-generation BMW X5, with both vehicles designed by Pininfarina of Italy. VinFast's first electric vehicle is the VFe34, a subcompact crossover developed on a proprietary VinFast platform, while the small Fadil is a reskinned Opel Karl city car. VinFast also produced a 500-unit run of the President, a variant of the Lux SA2.0 equipped with a 420-horsepower 6.2-liter General Motors V-8.
The Vietnamese brand's foray into the US market will be centered on the forthcoming VFe35 and VFe36 electric crossovers. Details on the versions designed specifically for the United States have not yet been revealed. VinFast had planned to sell 56,000 electric vehicles in 2022, but the worldwide semiconductor chip scarcity prompted the company to decrease that objective to 15,000 units.
Source;
Vietnam's VinFast Preparing To Sell EV Crossovers In the U.S.. (2021, July 13). Car and Driver. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a37012830/vinfast-vietnam-ev-maker-expanding/.
