A global audience of over eight million tuned in to witness the international unveiling of VinFast, the first volume automotive manufacturer from Vietnam, at the Paris Motor Show on 2 October 2018.
Impressed by the successful launch of Vietnam’s first national car brand, NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, has published an article titled ‘Fast and serious: Vietnam’s first national car brand’.
According to NHK, the fact that Vinfast drew great public attention at the Paris Motor Show wasn’t just because of its eye-catching design but the idea of a new car manufacturer coming out of a developing country surprised many, especially at a time when the industry was facing radical change and fierce competition.
Establishing a brand
NHK had a brief introduction of the establishment of Vinfast brand under the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup’s umbrella.
It wasn’t just because of its eye-catching design. The idea of a new car manufacturer coming out of a developing country surprised many, especially at a time when the industry was facing radical change and fierce competition.
In June, eager buyers in Hanoi took delivery of the first cars made by Vietnam’s VinFast. On weekends, the company offers people a chance to test-drive a car bearing their country’s first home-grown marque.
VinFast completed a factory in 2017 in the port city of Hai Phong, about a two-hour drive from Hanoi. That was just a year and half after the company was established by Vingroup, one of Vietnam’s biggest conglomerates.
The plant’s production systems are powered by artificial intelligence, and the company expects the facility to produce 250,000 cars a year.
Vo Quang Hue, who is Vingroup’s deputy CEO and also in charge of VinFast, says the company is forming a foundation for an automotive industry in Vietnam and wants to eventually export the brand.
Vinfast is forming a foundation for an automotive industry in Vietnam and wants to eventually export the brand.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended VinFast’s factory opening ceremony and praised the company as patriotic. The government hopes an integrated automobile industry will create a vast number of jobs and establish a supply chain that will bring more advanced skills to workers.
Covering 500,000 square metres, the plant is designed to produce 250,000 cars a year in the initial stage before its capacity is upgraded to 500,000 units a year in the second phase.
Supporting local suppliers
According to NHK, VinFast has invested heavily in local partners. It has teamed up with An Phat, a plastic products manufacturer. Their joint company, VinFast-An Phat Plastic Auto Part Co., makes battery covers and other plastic parts for cars.
The carmaker also founded a training school jointly with the German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam. Two-hundred students are learning to become mechanical and mechatronics engineers with instruction from top professionals in the auto industry.
Do Tu Tai, a 19-year-old trainee, had to pass a tough exam to get into the school. He is from a small town near Hai Phong. Tai gets a monthly salary while training and he’s guaranteed a job at the VinFast plant or other factories upon graduation.
Long road ahead
However, NHK noted, creating a national brand car comes with some huge challenges. Vietnam has a long way to go to establish a parts-supply system.
Few senior engineers at the factory are yet locally hired. The company has recruited staff from among 22 countries across the world.
Creating a national brand car comes with some huge challenges. Vietnam has a long way to go to establish a parts-supply system.
Kazuo Ishikawa, who is an industry expert and professor at Senshu University, says there is little incentive to build a car industry in Vietnam because there are already established ones in nearby Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. He says these can serve Vietnam because auto tariffs within the ASEAN market, which includes all four countries, are zero.
Looking beyond
But Vingroup thinks otherwise. It says the free trade agreements Vietnam has concluded with non- ASEAN nations are an incentive for global carmakers. Under such deals, the companies will be able to produce cars in Vietnam and ship them abroad at lower tariffs.
VinFast’s business is at the starting line at a time when the number of people in Vietnam who can afford a car is rapidly accelerating. But it remains to be seen how many buyers will be swayed by the opportunity to own a Vietnamese-brand automobile.
The company is also looking beyond the car industry. It says the technologies that are developed in the automotive factory can be applied to the medical sector and other fields. The firm also says its main competition will be within the electric car market. VinFast’s first electric vehicle will be on the road in 2020.
VinFast is the first car facility in Vietnam to possess a highly automated production line, in which the stamping, welding, painting, assembly and engine workshops are continuously connected and automated by thousands of robots.
VinFast’s Fadil crossover model will begin to ship from June 17 while its Lux A2.0 sedan and Lux SA2.0 SUV models are scheduled to hit the market in late July.
The company plans to unveil 12 automobile and electric bike models over the next two years.
VinFast is a subsidiary of Vingroup, one of the largest private conglomerates in Vietnam with its businesses ranging from property development and retail to healthcare, education, technology and industrials./.
Source: NHK