Vietnamese automaker VinFast is reportedly contemplating including a fifth automobile to its deliberate U.S. lineup, and it is a most unlikely selection – the VF3 mini crossover.
Designed for the Vietnamese market, the VinFast VF3 may have potential for the U.S. market as a sub-$20,000 metropolis automobile concentrating on budget-minded Individuals, VinFast representatives instructed Automotive Information.
First proven in June, the VinFast VF3 is a boxy, high-riding two-door automobile that measures simply 122.6 inches in size, making it some 10 inches shorter than the same Baojun Yep co-developed by GM with its Chinese language companions SAIC and Wuling.
The corporate didn’t reveal particulars concerning the automobile’s electrical motor and battery, however mentioned the VF3 provides “spectacular journey distance” tailor-made to the wants and day by day utilization patterns of most Vietnamese drivers. Given its measurement and market positioning, the VF3 doubtless incorporates a single-motor, two-wheel-drive powertrain.
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Even if the VF3 is so small, it’s mentioned to have received over potential VinFast sellers within the U.S., who’re apparently urging the automaker to import it as a low-end EV mannequin.
VinFast mentioned it’s “researching the demand and potential for the VF3 mannequin within the U.S., following the optimistic responses from our sellers.” The corporate added that “additional particulars will likely be introduced in the end.”
Vietnam’s first automaker lately introduced a shift from being a direct-to-consumer model to a hybrid retail mannequin that additionally contains franchised dealerships.
The carmaker is at present within the course of of choosing sellers throughout the USA; it mentioned in a regulatory submitting that it has recruited 27 sellers in a dozen states to promote its EVs after holding conferences with sellers.
Duke Hale, an adviser to the automaker, instructed Automotive Information that VinFast introduced an actual-size foam mannequin of the VF3 to 2 conferences with potential sellers final month, one in Tampa, Florida, and one in Dallas, Texas.
The sellers that attended the occasions, about 100 of them, have been almost unanimous in wanting the VF3 for the US market, Hale mentioned. “They preferred the entire lineup however the VF3, I’d say, bought an nearly one hundred pc response,” he mentioned. “They actually preferred the VF3 and the reason being it is in all probability sub-$20,000.”
VinFast has not introduced a worth for the VF3 in Vietnam however mentioned will probably be accessibly priced to attraction to the plenty. The automaker mentioned the tiny EV has the potential to change into the brand new “nationwide automobile” for the Vietnamese folks. Gross sales of the VF3 in Vietnam are anticipated to start out subsequent 12 months, with deliveries to start within the third quarter of 2024.
The model’s least expensive automobile in Vietnam for the time being is the bigger, subcompact VF6 that begins round $28,000. If it makes it to the U.S. with a sub-$20,000 MSRP, the VinFast VF3 would change into America’s least expensive EV by far.
VinFast has thus far confirmed 4 fashions for the U.S. market, all crossovers: the mid-size VF8 that is already on sale in California, the marginally bigger three-row VF9 that begins at $83,000, the VF6 subcompact, and the VF7 compact. The automaker is constructing a manufacturing unit in North Carolina to supply a few of these autos.