Vietnam's first automaker now has names for first sedan, SUV

PARIS -- Vietnam's first domestic auto brand, VinFast, will name its first sedan the Lux A2.0 and first SUV the Lux SA2.0.

Deliveries of the two models will start in Vietnam in June 2019, the company said, with exports starting in 2020. VinFast declined to identify any export markets.

The cars are based on modified BMW platforms and are powered by BMW 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engines reworked for VinFast by Austrian engine specialist AVL.

The design of the cars was created by Italdesign and modified by Pininfarina.

The vehicles would be affordable for the Vietnamese market, said VinFast CEO James DeLuca on the sidelines of the Paris auto show. DeLuca is a former head of manufacturing for General Motors. "These are every bit as aspirational as a premium car, but the price point is much more midmarket," he said, without giving a figure.

The 2.0-liter engine is available with either 174 hp or 228 hp in the sedan and just 228 hp for the seven-seat SUV. The more powerful sedan accelerates to 100 kph (62 mph) in 7.1 seconds, VinFast claims. Both engines are rated as Euro 5 on emissions, which is higher than the current Vietnamese standard of Euro 4, VinFast said.

The sedan measures 4,973 mm long, making it similar in length to the BMW 5 series. The SUV is a little shorter at 4,940 mm, which is just over 80 mm longer than the current BMW X5.

The interior of the VinFast car has a 10.4-inch screen in the center of the instrument panel, bigger than that fitted to much of Volvo’s current range. VinFast said this was essential in Vietnam, where smartphone use is one of the highest per capita in the world.

Opel rebadged car

VinFast is also working on a rebadge of the Opel Karl minicar, starting from the underpinnings of the Karl’s stablemate built by GM in Vietnam, the Chevrolet Spark. In June, VinFast signed a deal with GM to take over the U.S. automaker’s Hanoi factory along with its dealer network and employees.

Italdesign tweaked the design of the Karl to make it appear part of the VinFast brand. The Volkswagen Group-owned design and engineering firm also crafted a new, full-electric minicar, due probably in 2020. 

VinFast, part of the giant Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has spent $3.5 billion to construct a factory in Dinh Vu near Hai Phong, a major port city in northern Vietnam that is 80 km from the capital of Hanoi.

The automaker is also working on an electric bus and has set up a sister plant next to its Haiphong factory to build electric scooters. VinFast partnered with Austrian motorbike manufacturer KTM to develop one e-scooter range, said DeLuca, adding that it had the potential “to go global.”

VinFast launched the sedan and SUV in Paris with the help of soccer star David Beckham, who was chosen in a vote by the Vietnamese people, DeLuca said.

DeLuca compared the reach of Vingroup in Vietnam to that of the Hyundai Group in South Korea, where Hyundai has interests in businesses as diverse as shipping, construction, semiconductors, logistics and steel. "It's still not as diverse as Vingroup," DeLuca said.

He said VinFast will avoid the fate of Proton, which was created as Malaysia’s national car brand in 1983 but struggled financially and failed to establish itself outside of the country. Last year, China’s Geely Holding Group took a majority stake in Proton.

"Proton didn't have the brand awareness or the power of the Vingroup," DeLuca said.