Bound comes to Europe in 2022: out of Vietnam into the world

After most of the European automakers said goodbye to trade fairs like the Los Angeles Auto Show, Vinfast’s grand appearance in the metropolis on the Pacific Ocean surprised once again. Until years ago, Vinfast was a blank slate for many, producing scooters in Vietnam, until they cooperated with BMW and launched the previous versions of the 5 Series and X5 with a modified body in Vietnam under its own Vinfast label. “We now have a sales share of eight percent on the home market,” says Michael Lohscheller with satisfaction. The former CEO of Opel moved from Rüsselsheim to Vietnam a few months ago and became head of Vinfast, the automotive division of the powerful Vingroup. The first few months did not go as planned for him because of the ongoing pandemic. A 14-day quarantine doesn’t make it any easier to go back and forth between the continents. But the quarantine was served in a hotel complex on an island in the south of the country – together with other executives from the Vingroup, which already owns most of it here. The local car market in Vietnam comprises around 200,000 new vehicles per year.

Vinfast has big plans and so the Los Angeles Auto Show not only announced a new North American headquarters in LA itself and an imminent market entry, but also presented two new vehicles to the American public. With the two SUV models VF e35 and e36, Vinfast wants to become a global brand and at the same time make its transition into the electric age known. Apart from the home market of Vietnam, Vinfast will be a pure electric brand with its two models in the upper middle class and upper class, which, in addition to corresponding vehicles, wants to offer an entire ecosystem for electric mobility based on a service platform. “Our goal is to inspire customers to join the electric vehicle revolution to drive solutions to the climate crisis. Vinfast believes that the future of mobility will be shaped by highly customizable, intelligent electric vehicles that incorporate technologies that people use and the environment benefit equally, “says Michael Lohscheller. Vinfast only started in 2017 – with an investment of 5.4 billion dollars.

In the home country of Vietnam, Vinfast has been active for years in the field of module production (CKD / SKD) for various companies under its owner Pham Nhat Vuong, where, among other things, it produces the number one local means of transport: scooters. But more and more Vietnamese want a car and so, with the help of German cooperation partners, three models were brought onto the market: a small car, a luxury SUV and a luxury sedan. The Vingroup’s money comes from completely different areas such as construction / real estate, agriculture, tourism and retail. A team of former GM managers initially had the two Vinfast Lux A 2.0 and Lux ​​SA 2.0 models launched on the local market in 2018. BMW had given the Vingroup the license to use the technical platforms of the long-discontinued BMW X5 and the former 5 Series in order to make the first two Vinfast models a reality as quickly as possible. So within a very short time, the former upper-class model from Dingolfing became the Vietnamese counterpart Lux A 2.0. The older BMW X5 produced in Spartanburg has meanwhile become the Lux SA 2.0.

The vehicles come from the automobile plant in the Dinh Vu Industrial Park in Hai Phong. The production facility on a 335 hectare site – built and coordinated by Siemens in just 21 months – can produce up to 250,000 vehicles per year; a doubling of the capacity is planned. Vinfast now has the only plant in Vietnam that is able to carry out complete automobile production including the manufacture of main components such as the chassis or engine. In addition to the two discarded BMW models Lux SA and Lux ​​A, the Fadil, which is technically based on the Opel Karl Rocks, is now being manufactured as an entry-level model. The Vietnamese around company boss Pham Nhat Vuong want to increasingly rely on the US market and thus on electric vehicles. To this end, Vinfast and LG Chem have founded a joint battery company called VLBP. The aim of the new company is to manufacture lithium-ion battery packs for its own electric models in Vietnam. Vinfast is responsible for the operation of the production line and the storage of the lithium-ion batteries, while the Korean supplier LG Chem provides the necessary technical support and supervises the facility management.

Vinfast wants to position itself as a new premium brand worldwide and the two electric SUVs from the D and E segment look correspondingly self-confident. “We are planning to come to Europe in the fourth quarter of 2022,” adds Lohscheller, “initially to Germany, France and the Netherlands, followed by other European countries.” Pre-orders for both electric crossovers should be possible as early as the middle of next year. Europe is the focus, but the automotive arm of the Vingroup has big plans for Asia and the USA in particular. “We will also set up our own production facility in the USA,” says Michael Lohscheller, who is still keeping a low profile regarding the location. However, the first vehicles – including the two models VF e35 / e36 – will also roll off the production line here.

If you ask Lohscheller about the differences between his previous activities in the automotive industry and those in Vietnam, he almost raves about Germany. “In Vietnam everything goes much faster without trade unions. A new car is built here in 18 and not 48 months, people work six days a week and live close to the factory,” says the car manager for whom Vietnam was not only new to the world of automobiles. ” 6,000 people build a 135-hectare factory in 15 months that can produce 250,000 vehicles a year. The decisions are simply made much faster. ” At the moment, those responsible for Vinfast are pondering whether to stay with electric cars in Europe as well or whether they should also rely on scooters, with which the business on the home market had started. Not only would they generate sales, but they would also make the Vinfast brand known faster than would be possible with vehicles alone. Last but not least, companies from Germany and Europe provide the necessary level of technology.

It is already clear that Vinfast wants to do without a network of car dealers in Europe. “There will be central flagship stores in the big cities where customers can experience the vehicles,” explains Michael Lohscheller, “the vehicle will be delivered to their home. Our technicians come to customers’ homes for service and try to solve the problem there to solve.” If that is not possible, take the defective Vinfast with you and, as a special service, leave a replacement vehicle with the customer so that he is mobile. “Service is one of the big problems between manufacturers and customers”, says Michael Lohscheller, “this is where we can make the difference.” And the Vietnamese want to attract customers to the new premium brand with low prices. It will be interesting to see whether this will work out from the end of 2022. It won’t be a spurt for Vinfast, even with Michael Lohscheller at the top. The long-distance runner has not yet run a marathon in his new home, but has already made some running friends – well then nothing stands in the way of the Vinfast marathon.