The car manufacturer from Vietnam is currently looking for suitable locations in Germany. He also wants to produce in the USA by the end of 2024.
(Foto: Bloomberg)
Bangkok The richest man in Vietnam competes against the richest man in the world: Vinfast founder Pham Nhat Vuong wants to compete with the market leader Tesla from Elon Musk with new e-car factories in Germany and the USA. This was announced on Thursday by the automaker, which launched its first combustion vehicles three years ago in Vietnam – with the help of German technology.
For global expansion, Vinfast wants to switch completely to electromobility. At the end of 2022, the last combustion engines will roll off the assembly line in the newly built factory in the North Vietnamese industrial city of Haiphong, as Vinfast boss Le Thi Thu Thuy announced at the world’s largest electronics trade fair CES in Las Vegas.
Thuy has only recently been at the helm of the automaker, which is part of Vuong’s huge Vingroup – a conglomerate that builds residential real estate, operates schools and hospitals, and dominates retail trade in Vietnam.
Thuy took over the position when the former Opel boss Michael Lohscheller had surprisingly retired from the chief position at Vinfast at the end of December – for personal reasons, as it was said.
Vinfast recently delivered the first electric cars in Vietnam and is building its own battery factory there. The newly announced production sites are to bring the company onto the global market: In the USA, production of e-cars, electric buses and batteries is to begin in 2024, and a capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year is planned. Three locations are on the shortlist.
Vinfast already has good contacts in Germany
The German factory is supposed to serve the European market. You are looking for a suitable location with the Association for Foreign Trade and Location Marketing of the Federal Government. “You have to have factories close to the sales markets in order to attract customers,” said Thuy. Delivering cars worldwide by ship is no longer appropriate – especially with a view to the coronavirus pandemic.
Vinfast already has good contacts in Germany: BMW and Opel provided the basis of the first vehicles, Bosch and ZF Friedrichshafen were the most important suppliers. ZF now also supplies cameras and sensors for the automatic driving systems of new Vinfast vehicles.
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Initially, Vinfast wants to bring five e-models for 36,000 to 53,000 euros on the market. “We are convinced that we will find a place in the European market, especially since the switch to e-vehicles in Europe is crystal clear,” said manager Thuy.
More: Ex-Opel boss Michael Lohscheller is leaving the electric car manufacturer in Vietnam
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