ELECTRIC vehicle (EV) maker VinFast said it plans to begin selling two made-in-India cars in the South Asian country later this year, marking the Vietnamese carmaker’s debut in the world’s third-biggest car market.
It, however, did not disclose pricing for the VF6 and VF7 cars it plans to launch in India – a key detail as it seeks to woo India’s aspirational but price-sensitive customers.
VinFast showcased some of its vehicles including small concept VF3 and the premium, bigger VF9 at the India auto show in New Delhi on Friday (Jan 17).
“I am pretty confident,” deputy chief executive officer Ashwin Ashok Patil said on the sidelines of the event, adding that the production will start after June and sales will commence in the second half of 2025. “You will see that thrust coming up in 2025 and 2026.”
VinFast is the latest overseas carmaker to enter India where a long list of global and local automobile giants – with the exception of Tesla – are already muscling in with new launches to get a piece of the country’s nascent but rapidly-expanding EV market.
The automaker will compete with the likes of local giants Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors, as well as Asian rivals, including China’s BYD and SAIC Motor’s India joint venture.
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The country is the world’s third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter but is seeking to decarbonise its economy and wants EVs to be 30 per cent of all vehicles sales by 2030 as it aims to turn carbon net zero by 2070.
The policy push for greener vehicles and an increasingly affluent Indian middle class are making the South Asian nation a hotspot for launches by global and local carmakers.
Facing headwinds
Cracking the India market will be big win for VinFast which has been bleeding cash since it shipped its first vehicles to the US in late 2022. It has been facing headwinds as it attempts to become a global brand amid fierce competition from established automakers and fast-growing Chinese companies producing cheap EVs.
VinFast is currently building a factory in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, after having unveiled plans last year to invest as much as US$2 billion in India. The plant will have an initial production capacity of 50,000 cars, Patil said.
VinFast has made an initial investment of US$500 million for its Tamil Nadu factory where it eventually plans to build an annual capacity of 150,000 units. It is also aggressively expanding across other Asian markets such as Indonesia. BLOOMBERG
