The Vietnamese manufacturer VinFast wants to massively increase its sales in 2023. To achieve this, it is counting on its development in Europe, but also on the launch of an unprecedented electric city car between 10,000 and 12,000 euros. What to shake the Dacia Spring? It’s not that simple and we explain why.
If you don’t know VinFast yet, it shouldn’t take long. Because the brand of Vietnamese origin, founded in 2018 by billionaire Phạm Nhật Vượng slowly begins to invade Europe. We remember in particular its presence at the last Paris Motor Show in October, with several models from its range.
An aggressive strategy
Today, the manufacturer already has several vehicles in its catalog, including the VF6 and VF9, while it also recently launched its VF8 in the United States in order to compete with Tesla. But the firm does not want to stop there, especially since it still has a lot of work to do before it equals Elon Musk’s firm, which remains the world’s number one electric car.
It is then followed by BYD then Volkswagen, while VinFast is far, far behind. But the latter intends to regain the hair of the beast, while his situation is not quite good, with finances still in the red. Although this is not alarming as at Aiways for example, where things are more complicated.
Relayed by the British press agency Reutersthe brand’s founder announces his new sales target, displayed to 50,000 cars registered worldwide in 2023. This is seven times more than in 2022, since only 7,400 vehicles were sold last year. To achieve this, the Asian firm has more than one trick up its sleeve.
First, it relies on the global increase in demand for electric cars. For the record, sales of the latter exceeded diesel in France last year. In addition, thermal vehicles will be banned from sale in Europe from 2035. But that’s not all, because the manufacturer also plans to expand its catalog in the coming months.
A whole new model
The first model will be an electric pick-up, which should compete with the Tesla Cybertruck, the Rivian R1T as well as the Ford F-150 Lightning. But the one that should be the most anticipated by the general public and above all the most promising in terms of sales is much smaller. It will indeed be an electric city car, the price of which should be displayed between 10,000 and 12,000 dollars (about 9,300 and 11,191 euros), probably duty free.
A rate which should however be revised upwards when it eventually arrives in Europe, which would obviously not be surprising, just with 20% VAT. At the moment, absolutely nothing is known about this car, which should hunt directly on the lands of the Dacia Spring. The latter must already face the arrival of many rivals, such as the Next e.GO Mobile e.wave X or the brand new Invicta Pony.
Another major competitor is also about to arrive here: the BYD Seagull, which is close to the Dolphin which is also arriving in Europe. The Vietnamese firm has not yet started deliveries of its cars in Europe, but it should be soon. She already has several concessions on the Old Continentincluding one located in the very heart of Paris.
It is already open and has been welcoming customers for several months. The manufacturer wants to increase its offensive in order to compete with Tesla. For this, it has notably revised downwards the prices of some of its models, in order to better cope with the drop in prices operated by the firm of Elon Musk on its Model 3 and Model Y.
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