Enter Vietnam’s people’s car
THERE’S a new people’s car on the way – and it’s coming from a very surprising source.
It’s not coming from Germany, where the original people’s car – the Volkswagen – was first developed by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime just before the second world war, but from another war-ravaged country – Vietnam.
The first cars from new Vietnamese car company, VinFast, will be unveiled at next month’s Paris Motor Show and they’re not so much cars for the people, more cars chosen by the people.
Breaking all traditional car development rules, VinFast gave the people of Vietnam the opportunity to determine the styling direction at the very start of the design process.
More than 62,000 Vietnamese people voted on 20 design sketches for two new cars – a saloon and an SUV – from four world-renowned Italian car design houses.
Starting with ItalDesign’s winning concepts, the cars’ designs have since been developed and completed by Pininfarina.
VinFast describes its debut cars as premium models, featuring long wheelbases. The design language looks up-to-the-minute and a feature of both cars is a prominent chrome, Vauxhall-style, V emblem in the centre of the grille and on the boot of the saloon and the SUV’s tailgate.
The company says that its first two cars are designed for the Vietnamese people based on a selection made by the Vietnamese people. “These debut VinFast models can truly be regarded as national products of Vietnam, embracing the pride and ambition of its citizens,” says the company.
The company has moved fast to have its first two models ready for Paris – it’s only a year since the public design vote – and it will be the first Vietnamese automotive manufacturer to participate in a major international motor show.
But the VinFast badge won’t be seen on the roads of Europe for some time. The new models are not slated to go on sale in Vietnam until September 2019 and, although the company says it plans to export to international markets in the coming years, there’s no indication of when that might be.
Meanwhile VinFast, which is a subsidiary of Vietnam’s largest private enterprise company, says it is developing a wide range of other vehicles, including electric cars, city cars, electric buses and electric scooters.