Vietnam to produce homegrown cars under VinFast brand
Vietnam’s property conglomerate Vingroup has launched a new division called VinFast which is set to become the nation’s first home-grown car maker. Vingroup announced on September 2 that it will invest a total of $3.5 billion in a large vehicle production facility in the northern city of Haiphong where it plans to produce 500,000 vehicles – cars and electric motorbikes – in the country annually by 2025.
Up to $1.5 billion will be invested in the first phase of the venture which will see the introduction of the first electric motorbikes in 12 months and the first cars in 24 months. Vingroup expects to produce between 100,000 and 200,000 vehicles, including five-seat sedans, seven-seat SUVs and electric motorbikes annually in the first phase.
Credit Suisse Group will provide VinFast with loans of up to $800 million, while most of the rest will be shouldered by the company itself. Plans are to sell the vehicles in Vietnam and abroad, mainly in East and Southeast Asia with an export focus on China.
According to Vingroup vice chairwoman Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast will set up both a manufacturing and research and development complex. The plant will have chassis and engine assembly lines and painting rooms, but aims to use Italian car designers and rely on US and European companies to help produce core components including engines. The company will appoint an executive from a global automaker as CEO, Thuy said.
VinFast will become Vietnam’s second large automaker. Truong Hai Automobile, founded in 1997 and also known as Thaco, is a contract manufacturer, producing and distributing passenger cars for Mazda, Hyundai and Peugeot and assembling commercial vehicles in a technology transfer from Hyundai, Kia and Foton under the band Thaco Trucks and Thaco Bus.
While Vingroup is confident to reach out to consumers in the Asian market, analyst say that the venture is likely going to be a complicated one in a highly competitive market dominated by Japanese, South Korean and cheaper Chinese cars, pointing at the moderate success a similar car venture in Malaysia, Proton, has seen.
Vietnam's property conglomerate Vingroup has launched a new division called VinFast which is set to become the nation's first home-grown car maker. Vingroup announced on September 2 that it will invest a total of $3.5 billion in a large vehicle production facility in the northern city of Haiphong where it plans to produce 500,000 vehicles - cars and electric motorbikes - in the country annually by 2025. Up to $1.5 billion will be invested in the first phase of the venture which will see the introduction of the first electric motorbikes in 12 months and the first cars in 24...
Vietnam’s property conglomerate Vingroup has launched a new division called VinFast which is set to become the nation’s first home-grown car maker. Vingroup announced on September 2 that it will invest a total of $3.5 billion in a large vehicle production facility in the northern city of Haiphong where it plans to produce 500,000 vehicles – cars and electric motorbikes – in the country annually by 2025.
Up to $1.5 billion will be invested in the first phase of the venture which will see the introduction of the first electric motorbikes in 12 months and the first cars in 24 months. Vingroup expects to produce between 100,000 and 200,000 vehicles, including five-seat sedans, seven-seat SUVs and electric motorbikes annually in the first phase.
Credit Suisse Group will provide VinFast with loans of up to $800 million, while most of the rest will be shouldered by the company itself. Plans are to sell the vehicles in Vietnam and abroad, mainly in East and Southeast Asia with an export focus on China.
According to Vingroup vice chairwoman Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast will set up both a manufacturing and research and development complex. The plant will have chassis and engine assembly lines and painting rooms, but aims to use Italian car designers and rely on US and European companies to help produce core components including engines. The company will appoint an executive from a global automaker as CEO, Thuy said.
VinFast will become Vietnam’s second large automaker. Truong Hai Automobile, founded in 1997 and also known as Thaco, is a contract manufacturer, producing and distributing passenger cars for Mazda, Hyundai and Peugeot and assembling commercial vehicles in a technology transfer from Hyundai, Kia and Foton under the band Thaco Trucks and Thaco Bus.
While Vingroup is confident to reach out to consumers in the Asian market, analyst say that the venture is likely going to be a complicated one in a highly competitive market dominated by Japanese, South Korean and cheaper Chinese cars, pointing at the moderate success a similar car venture in Malaysia, Proton, has seen.
