In August, VinFast, a Vietnamese automaker, briefly became the third most valuable automaker globally, with a worth of $18 billion. India is the world’s third largest car market and although the adoption of electric vehicles is currently low, the company sees a significant opportunity to enter the battery electric vehicle (BEV) market in the country.
VinFast is conducting research on the market and may establish a production plant in either Gujarat or Tamil Nadu, both known for their automobile industry. However they intend to construct a CKD factory in India, where vehicles will be assembled using imported parts, benefiting from a lower import duty of 15 percent.
The company plans to introduce three car models, VF3, VF5, and VFe34, in India. The VF5 is currently priced at approximately $22,900 in Vietnam, while the VF3 costs less than $15,000 and the VFe34 is priced at $33,000. However, since the cars will be imported to India, there might be a 15 percent increase in prices.
VinFast, went public in August and was valued at over $191 billion, has since then experienced a significant decrease in its worth.
VinFast is planning to follow the same strategy as Chinese electric vehicle company BYD by selling their vehicles in a completely knocked down format. BYD currently sells around 200 units a month in the country, while Tata, the market leader, sells nearly 6,000 electric vehicles a month thanks to their popular models such as Nexon and Tiago.
Reference- Economic Times, Reuters, MoneyControl, Autocar India, Rushlane