VinFast Special Feature - New Kid on the Block

Most automotive companies in the world are similar in terms of their business models. They have research and development departments, produce many of the components of their vehicles in-house and ultimately, manufacture and sell those vehicles. However, the Vin Group – Vietnam’s biggest business conglomerate by far – is a company that stand out in this aspect. You see, the Vin Group doesn’t just produce cars, but also does a lot more, and on a recent trip to Vietnam, we got a detailed view into their ventures and their broad vision for India.

Comprehensive vision

When you visit Vietnam, you’ll notice that the Vin Group is pretty much is involved in the most important business sectors. They have a vast real estate empire, run schools, colleges and universities, medical schools and hospital, have a presence in the hospitality sector, and, of course, manufacture cars and two-wheelers. But, of late, one of the core focuses of the Founder and Chairman of the Vin Group – Mr. Pha.m Nhâ.t Vu’o.’ng – has been on clean mobility via manufacturing only EVs and also focusing on the safety of the occupants, making them two of the key pillars of the brand.

One of the key aspects of this is their global manufacturing plant in Hai Phong which manufactures their EVs for domestic consumption and for exports, and also their dedicated EV battery plant, which caters to their battery requirements. We had the opportunity to visit the Ha Phong plant and got a detailed look at their huge facility. To be honest, the plant was absolutely cutting-edge, and featured the latest machinery from across the most acclaimed suppliers across the world and was as modern a plant as it gets. At the same time, we also got to interact with many of the engineers at the facility – who were from various nationalities including Germany, South Africa and India – and what stood out was that VinFast was not just investing in the latest technology, but also the best talent it could find from around the world.

Focus on India

However, as most manufacturers know, if you want to be a successful automotive manufacturer in India and target the mass market, you have to Make-in-India. And, VinFast officials understood that very early. As a result, they have just inaugurated a brand-new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in the state of Tamil Nadu to cater to the Indian market. This is VinFast’s third operational plant internationally and its first plant outside Vietnam. Spread over 400 acres, at full capacity, the plant will create 3,000 to 3,500 direct jobs. The plant will initially assemble the the VF6 and VF7 premium electric SUVs. The production is initially starting with a capacity of 50,000 vehicles per year, and is scalable up to 150,000 units.

While on our visit to Vietnam, we had a brief opportunity to drive both the VF6 and VF7 and were impressed with both the vehicles have to offer. Both vehicles were well-built and offered a horde of features – especially ones that Indian customers value the most in today’s competitive market. And with the production at VinFast’s India plant starting already, we are excited to see how their cars will fare in the Indian market. Of course, the Indian market is an extremely competitive one, but seeing how nimbly and quickly the VinFast group functions as a whole, we are excited to see what they offer to Indian customers and how they adapt to the Indian market.