Keen to find a larger audience, VinFast has announced two smaller models for the North American market that should carry lower price tags. Say hello to the VF 6 and VF 7. While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen these crossovers, it’s the first time we’ve seen them in America with production-like glass, updated amber reflectors and whatnot. With that in mind, let’s delve into the cars that aim to make VinFast a household name.
Upon first glance, it’s incredibly obvious that the VF 6 is gunning for the Hyundai Kona EV and Kia Niro EV. At 166.9 inches long with a 107.5-inch wheelbase, it’s just a little bit longer than the Kona EV with a slightly longer wheelbase than the bigger Niro EV. That’s promising stuff when it comes to interior room. However, the base VF 6 is a bit down on power compared to its Korean rivals. The entry-level Eco model will make 174 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque, which is not exactly groundbreaking stuff. However, you’ll be able to step up to the VF 6 Plus and get an output bump to 201 horsepower and 228 lb.-ft. of torque–fairly solid numbers for a subcompact crossover.
It’s a reasonably handsome crossover, too, with styling by Torino Design showing a dramatic mix of sharp creases and compound curves. While I’m not a huge fan of the lines going nowhere on the side of the VF 6, the sharp daytime running lights and availability of a rather loud orange color do their best to make up for this styling strangeness.
On the inside, you’ll likely notice that the VF 6 is missing a gauge cluster. However, rather than go full Tesla, VinFast has decided to use a heads-up display to replace a traditional digital dashboard. If you’re going to have one or the other, why not go for the sleek look of a HUD? Putting tech to the side, materials seem wholly appropriate for a subcompact crossover, with smart gold accents livening up a fairly standard mix of plastics and textiles. Overall, the VF 6 definitely piques my interest as entry-level EVs seem to not be a huge priority for America.
Moving up the range, the VF 7 sits squarely in the hot compact crossover segment. Instead of largely just competing with two vehicles, it competes with everything – Volkswagen ID.4, Toyota bZ4X, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, the list just goes on and on. Needless to say, the VF 7 better be good if it wants to keep up. First signs are quite promising. The base front-wheel-drive model packs the same 201 horsepower and 228 lb.-ft. of torque as the uplevel VF 6, and the VF 7 Plus gets a boost to 349 horsepower and 368 lb.-ft. of torque courtesy of all-wheel-drive. Plus, the overall footprint seems right. At 178.9 inches long, it seems just right for the segment. Mind you, figures for battery size and estimated range haven’t been released yet, so a true test of the VF 7’s mettle is yet to come.
Unsurprisingly, the VF 7 also features styling by Torino Design, albeit with more conservative lines that tend to gel better than the VF 6’s strange surfacing. Overall, it’s a fantastic look that makes the bZ4X seem a bit fussy and the ID.4 seem a bit dowdy. It’s the curvaceous Italianate surfacing we all know and love, now applied to an electric crossover. Job well done, I reckon.
On the inside, the VF 7 gets a similar HUD treatment as the VF 6 but a larger 15.7-inch infotainment screen. From the faux-leather smattered about the cabin to the tightly-grained plastics on the dash and door cards, the interior of the VF 7 looks to be a cut above what some mass-market rivals are offering. It’s also heartening to see a bank of physical switches including a volume knob in the center console, a subtle acknowledgement that minimalism can go too far. Like with the VF 8 and VF 9, VinFast plans to back the VF 6 and VF 7 with one of the strongest warranties in the car business. We’re talking about a ten-year 125,000-mile warranty, a properly bold statement for a new manufacturer to make. With serviceability front-of-mind for many EV consumers, such long coverage could offer a bit of relief.
Pricing for these new VinFast models hasn’t been announced yet, but expect to hear more when the VF 6 and VF 7 go on sale in 2023. Of course, VinFast still needs to start selling its larger models in America in the first place, which should happen in December if everything goes according to plan. Only Hyundai is doing more interesting mass-market EVs in America at the moment. I’d be interested if the price was right. IIRC these use a lot of off the shelf components from major suppliers. Same recipe, different presentation. And VinFast has a track record of actually mass producing vehicles before. They may be new to America and EV’s, but from my understanding they do know how to weld and bolt a vehicle together on a production line. If so they can still get all they way fucked. The next problem will be getting dealerships, and by extension parts and service. It takes deep pockets and time for a new entry into the market to establish itself in the U.S. Building infrastructure is expensive and there’s no good way around making the investment . Sure, there are theoretical shortcuts: In the appliance industry at least one major foreign player decided that building a central warehouse of parts in the U.S. was too expensive. “Hell we can just air-freight parts into the country and it will still be cheaper than building a warehouse”. And…it was cheaper, but from the customer’s perspective, it simply didn’t work. It takes a day to diagnose; a day to place the parts order, a day to process the order, a day for packing/pickup, three days for travel time and customs; another day to do the repair and the owner picks up the next day. That assumes the maximum realistic efficiency. Reality is generally slower than the theory. Then you always come fact-to-face with the fundamental question – why should I buy -this- particular car? It has to offer some advantage (usually price) or special feature that makes it distinctive. You can answer this question easily for most brands. Volvo: safety and durability; Lexus: reliability, and so forth. Finally – that 10-year warranty? If the company leaves the market, well, learn how to whistle. I wish them luck but don’t expect to ever see one. I can only think of four new automakers on the American market that I’d consider successful: Tesla, Rivian, Polestar, and Lucid. All of them follow a similar formula: start out by making luxury EVs that do things differently from how they’ve been done before. VinFast seems to be doing that, with their lack of a traditional gauge cluster and their battery subscription scheme. I don’t know if those are things customers will actually want, but what do I know? I’d never have thought that putting everything on a floating tablet in the center of the dash would be popular, but look at Tesla. Maybe they’re onto something. They’re also hedging their bets with a couple of more mass-market vehicles. That’s a tougher market, but one that they’ll eventually need to crack if they want to play with the big boys. Are they trying to do too much too fast? Maybe, but you could also argue that they’re wisely avoiding having all their eggs in one basket. The warranty is a smart way of helping reassure early adopters that their purchasing decision is a safe one. Sure, it doesn’t mean the car won’t still break down a lot, nor does it guarantee that anyone will be around in ten years to honor that warranty, but what are they supposed to do about that? Every new automaker faces that problem, and it can only be addressed by just making good cars and being successful. There’s no shortcut, but an excellent warranty is a good start. I still think they have an uphill battle, just like every other automaker. Rightly or wrongly, coming out of Vietnam won’t help them here in the US. Other new brands are either based here, or (Polestar) have an established brand whose equity they can borrow. But both Japan and South Korea were once developing nations in Asia trying to crack the American market, and look at them now. It can be done. We’ll just have to wait and see. The interior in particular gives me too much of a ‘going to the office’ vibe. Also please move past just quoting vehicle length. Not all of us live in some prairie suburb. Width matters (especially with the abandonment of parkable cars) to urban customers and urban customers are possibly more likely to buy an EV over ICE. Case in point, Hyundai’s otherwise very tempting to me Ioniq 5 will never grace my driveway, because it just won’t fit. One size smaller(narrower) folks – please! Yeah, yeah, my wife also complains about excessive girth…
