Just Kidding: VinFast Hasn't Delivered Any of the Vehicles It Shipped Here Last Year

by Chris Teague

Published: February 6th, 2023

just kidding vinfast hasn t delivered any of the vehicles it shipped here last year

VinFast can’t seem to make up its mind about how, when, and for how much to sell its vehicles. Recently, the automaker announced that the first round of U.S.-bound vehicles had left its home country of Vietnam. That was after it backtracked on a decision to sell vehicles with a battery subscription instead of pricing them outright. Most recently, Automotive News reported that VinFast is holding onto the 999 vehicles it shipped here last year for software updates.

Almost 1,000 VinFast VF8s have been in a holding pattern, awaiting software updates. The company said the process is complete and noted that deliveries would start in the second half of February.

VinFast claims 55,000 orders and said that 12,000 are from customers in the U.S. Though the first round of American EVs is on hold, the company delivered 4,000 vehicles to Vietnamese customers in December.

Though it’s a giant company with tons of resources, there’s no such thing as a bottomless wallet, raising questions about the chances for success following VinFast’s less-than-exciting launch in the U.S. The VF8 also didn’t do much to wow reviewers that visited the company’s base in Vietnam, with some saying it’s not ready for primetime.

VinFast says it will build a factory in North Carolina, but the company faces an uphill battle to break through the competition here. It has also lowered prices to keep up with Tesla and others, but without a must-have feature or selling point, the VF8 won't be top-of-mind for buyers with the required $50,000-plus to spend on a nice EV.

[Image: VinFast]

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#vinfastvf8 #Vietnam #ElectricVehicles

Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

More by Chris Teague

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10 of 19 comments

JLGOLDEN on Feb 06, 2023

In order for this total newcomer to grab and hold attention in the US market, the products MUST be an exceptional value. Not many people will pay name-brand money for the pretty mystery. I can appreciate the ambition of selling $50K+ crossovers, but I think they will go farther with their $30K-$40K offerings.

2 Reply
Mike Beranek on Feb 06, 2023

This guy called and wants his business model back.

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- Dukeisduke on Feb 06, 2023
  
  This is more like Malcolm Bricklin, and his importation of Yugos. These have to be cheap, and they have to be good. If they're cheap enough, buyers will overlook certain things. Yugos were very cheap, but still not cheap enough for buyers to overlook their shortcomings.
  I remember reading that Bricklin, after having seen a Zastava, sent a 36-page fax of all the things he wanted changed and tweaked on the cars before they were to be sold as Yugos. IIRC, they didn't even have any markings on the heater-a/c controls, except for red and blue bars for hot and cold.
  
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- FreedMike on Feb 06, 2023
  
  @duke: "...they didn't even have any markings on the heater-a/c controls, except for red and blue bars for hot and cold."
  They probably figured Marxist motoring was a universal language.
  
  1
- Jeff S on Feb 07, 2023
  
  Dukeisduke--The final straw was Yugoslavia was broken into separate countries and how impoverished and desperate the factory workers in Serbia, the location of Zastava’s factory, had become under Milosevic with the plant was sold to Fiat to give the nation of Serbia money in 2008. I think the Yugo was so cheap that it still could have sold enough in the US to be profitable but with the War and the poor moral of the Serbians it didn't stand a chance. Vietnam is not the same and VinFast could still pull this off but it is an uphill battle. Lowering the price to make them more competitive should be the first thing they do.
  
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- Bullnuke on Feb 07, 2023
  
  Ah, but @ Dukeisduke - Malcolm also did ensure that they had an electric heating grid in the rear window to keep the owner's hands warm while pushing it in the winter.
  
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- Wolfwagen on Feb 07, 2023
  
  @ Duke, don't forget Bricklin brought us the Subaru; I would say that turned out pretty well. The Yugo not so much.
  @Freed - but look that is almost universal among vehicles now
  
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- Dukeisduke on Feb 07, 2023
  
  @ Wolfwagen True - that was the Subaru 360. A friend in high school drove one. Also the Bricklin SV-1.
  
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FreedMike on Feb 06, 2023

On the one hand, it doesn't look good. On the other hand, not releasing the car into the hands of the general public until the obvious bugs are worked out is a good idea for a brand new company. Time will tell.

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- Bullnuke on Feb 07, 2023
  
  They'll likely never succeed in US auto sales by "not releasing the car into the hands of the general public until the obvious bugs are worked out" - the majority of the current successful brands use purchasers as the Beta testers to work those bugs out.
  
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Analoggrotto on Feb 07, 2023

They could sell them at the market

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