David Beckham unveils new Vinfast saloon and SUV at Paris Motor Show
Vinfast, a subsidiary of multi-trillion-dong Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, unveiled its first two passenger vehicles to large crowds of curious journalists at the Paris Motor Show on Tuesday.
Alongside the obvious no-shows at this year's Mondial de l'Automobile, this relatively new entrant to the world of car manufacturing revealed an SUV and a saloon in what is thought to be a long line of planned machines including a range of electric cars, buses and scooters.
The LUX A2.0 Sedan and the LUX SA2.0 SUV are described Italian-designed, with European technology and "Vietnamese spirit". They are understood to have been developed following an unusual nationwide poll of 62,000 people in Vietnam, in which participants chose their favourite design from a range of sketches. The results are sleek, modern, and clearly people-pleasers.
Le Thi Thu Thuy, the chairwoman of VinFast, stated that these cars "represent our intention for VinFast to be a successful automotive brand both in Vietnam and internationally.
"With our ambitious plans to bring these two vehicles to market in such a short time, it was crucial for us to make a big entrance and an immediate impact, and we certainly did that today,” she added.
Football legend David Beckham and Miss Vietnam, Trần Tiểu Vy, also addressed the crowds at the press conference, with Beckham stating that it was "a thrill to be in Paris to celebrate the arrival of a new carmaker on the global stage," adding that he could see how the VinFast design team had been able to evoke "such a beautiful country in the lines of these amazing new cars".
With the cars due to be delivered to Vietnamese motorists from September 2019, Le Thi Thu Thuy acknowledged the short timescale to which they were working. Vingroup launched the project just over a year ago and has already built a sprawling 355-hectare factory in Northern Vietnam, capable of producing a rumoured 250,000 cars per year.
"It is crucial for us to make a big entrance and an immediate impact," she added – perhaps explaining why such big stars were brought in for the unveiling.
The marque is keen to demonstrate its Vietnamese heritage, but is working with several European design, engineering and technology partners in order to meet international standards and client expectations. Imported expertise includes people such as Sean Calvert, previously of General Motors Co, and four of his colleagues.
VinFast are clearly aware of the investment required to build a successful automotive business completely from scratch, and are said to have earmarked $3.5 billion (£2.7 billion) to get things off the ground. This investment represents considerable diversification for the vast VinGroup conglomerate, which has assets worth a reported $9 billion US dollars across a portfolio including amusement parks, supermarkets, beauty stores, hospitals, schools, universities and farms.
Deliveries of the first VinFast cars will commence in Vietnam in just under 12 months, with plans to export to international markets in the future.
