A lot of the companies that sell cars in the US are household names with decades of history behind them. However, as electrification moves from the fringes to the mainstream, some new players have entered the game relatively recently. Tesla made a big splash with its EVs, and Rivian quickly became well-known for its all-electric pickup truck. But even these two have been around for a while now, and American drivers have had years to get to know who these brands are and what they stand for.
By contrast, VinFast is a brand-new name that we wouldn’t blame you for not recognizing. Maybe you even clicked on this article because you were confused when you saw the name “VinFast” and wanted to learn more. If so, you’ve come to the right place because we’re going to start from the basics and tell you everything you need to know about this Vietnamese Automaker.
Company History
The Vingroup Joint Stock Company is a Vietnamese conglomerate with member brands that do everything from developing real estate to providing K-12 education to developing artificial intelligence. But for our purposes, the important name to know is VinFast, which can only really trace its history as far back as 2017, when it opened an automotive manufacturing plant in Hai Phong, Vietnam. That’s certainly new by American standards, but it’s old enough to make VinFast the first global automotive manufacturer in its home country.
The company launched its Lux A2.0 sedan and Lux SA2.0 SUV (both based on discontinued BMW models) at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, already looking toward a global market but not yet making fully electric models. Both of the Lux vehicles were powered by traditional gas engines alone. The company’s first all-electric models weren’t cars at all but a family of e-scooters that were first sold in Vietnam in 2019.
Switching to electric power didn’t take long, though. VinFast launched three electric SUVs in 2021, announcing it would be shifting to an all-electric lineup going forward. The compact VF e34 was created for the Vietnamese market, but the larger VF8 and VF9 were built for a global audience. In 2022, VinFast opened showrooms in North America and Europe, just in time for global deliveries of the VF8 and VF9 in 2023. In January of 2024, it announced that the subcompact VF3 SUV would be coming to the US as well, though the timeline of its arrival on American streets is still unclear.
Lineup of Models
Currently, the only VinFast model available in America is the VF8 compact SUV, which is in the same ballpark, size-wise, as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia EV6, and Hyundai IONIQ 5. The VF9, a larger midsize SUV with three rows of seating, is due to arrive next, and VinFast is currently taking reservations. On the brand’s American website, the company rounds out its lineup with the compact VF7 and subcompact VF6, though for now, you can only “stay updated” on these models since it is not yet taking reservations. Further down the line, the VF Wild midsize electric pickup truck that was shown off at the CES technology show in Las Vegas in January of 2024 and the VF3 mini SUV (a boxy two-door affair that would certainly stand out for its small stature on American streets) could also end up for sale here in the States.
Of course, looking that far ahead assumes VinFast will still be around in the US a few years from now. While that’s entirely possible, it’s far from certain. For now, the only VinFast model you can buy here in the States is the VF8, so let’s take a closer look at what the response has been since its debut.
First Impressions: Not Impressive
As a new model from a company that’s brand-new in the States, the VF8 already has a lot working against it. Drivers who like to do their homework before buying an unfamiliar model will be disappointed to find that the VF8 is entering the 2024 model year while the 2023 model still hasn’t been rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Word of mouth is limited since the model is so new, and there aren’t many VinFast customers around to share their experiences. Because of this, the VF8 was in dire need of stellar reviews from industry experts. Unfortunately for VinFast, that’s not what it got.
The VF8 made a terrible first impression on the professional reviewers that it needed to impress to make headway with American drivers. Both MotorTrend and Car and Driver had major issues with the model and were not shy about sharing them. These reviews describe a vehicle that should still be in the prototype stage rather than one that was already being delivered to customers at the time. Complaints range from a rough ride that’s only made more uncomfortable by the flat seats that lack bolsters to driver assistance systems that are on by default and beep incessantly, even when there’s not a problem, to nested menus in the VF8’s touchscreen, making some features frustratingly hard to access.
In the end, Scott Evans of MotorTrend said that he would be “embarrassed to look a customer in the eye when handing over the keys to this vehicle,” while Ezra Dyer of Car and Driver concluded, “If it were hilariously inexpensive, sure. But it’s not,” referring to the VF8’s starting price of over $50k. Even a kinder review from J.D. Power that spent a lot of the word count praising the EV’s high points conceded that the ride was uncomfortable and the power delivery was far from smooth, concluding that VinFast “may still have some work to do” if it wants to find success in the US. While NHTSA hasn’t yet rated the safety of the 2023 VF8, it has recorded two recalls and over a dozen complaints, which certainly doesn’t help.
Room for Hope
Recovering from this bad press won’t be easy, but don’t count VinFast out just yet. There are reasons to think that it may be able to turn things around. For one, several of the issues that troubled reviewers can be addressed with software updates, making them fairly easy to fix. Problems with the physical components of the VF8 are being addressed for the 2024 model, which reportedly has an improved suspension system and a quieter cabin.
The company will have to work quickly to turn things around before the bad first impression becomes a bad reputation, but it has proven in the past that it can indeed work quickly. Only a year before reviewing the production model of the 2023 VF8, MotorTrend published an article describing the experience of test-driving various prototypes. The issues mentioned in the earlier article (like problems with the braking system and crossed wires that make it difficult to adjust the seat) did get fixed by the time of the VF8’s official debut. If VinFast can keep working quickly, then it might just be able to find a place in the competitive American auto market.
Wait and See
The future is famously hard to predict, and the news about VinFast is such a mixed bag that things get even more complicated. The brand is owned and operated by a company with plenty of money to spend on getting things right and big ambitions globally. VinFast has already broken ground on a manufacturing plant in North Carolina, which certainly projects the idea that it is confident about the brand’s future here in the United States. And there are plenty of bright spots to be found in reviews of the VF8, from its real-world range exceeding its EPA numbers to the spacious interior. But there’s no denying that the company has a steep climb ahead of it. VinFast still doesn’t have much brand recognition in America, and those who have heard of the company have probably heard bad things. Whether it will be around in ten years to honor the warranty offered for the VF8 remains to be seen.
