Automotive News - November 1, 2021 - 31

November 1, 2021 * 31
VINFAST
Vietnamese startup
plans 6 EV launches
continued from Page 3
strongly advances the global smart EV revolution, "
Lohscheller said in an email to Automotive
News.
" This is quite an ambitious goal, " he acknowledged.
" But it is entirely reasonable because
EVs are a new field. There are still many
opportunities for new players with solid visions
and potential like VinFast to break
through and have a strong foothold in the
global market. "
Uphill
The realities on the ground foreshadow an
uphill battle. The company has only one factory,
near Hanoi in northern Vietnam, and it
sold only 30,000 vehicles in 2020 - all of them
in its home market. Toyota sells that many
RAV4 crossovers in the U.S. in a single month.
VinFast has an unproven track record in
production, sales and customer service overseas
and its name is vir tually unknown in the U.S. At
first blush, it looks like so many other hopeful EV
entrants from China and beyond that aim high
but have so far failed to crack Fortress America.
Chinese EV entrants Bordrin and Byton illustrate
the difficulties ahead. Those Chinese
startups had flashy concept cars, big ambitions
and, in Byton's case at least, an infusion
of foreign talent that included a former BMW
Group vice president who led development
of the BMW i8.
Bordrin ran out of money and folded, and
Byton was thrown into limbo by the pandemic.
VinFast has not announced its pricing
plans. But it expects to undercut the established
competition by a wide margin while
still offering the same bells and whistles with
acceptable reliability.
Even if a newcomer manages to nail distribution,
marketing and service, cultivating a
good brand image remains a word-of-mouth
game, said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at
iSeeCars.com.
" It's a very tough journey to get U.S. consumers
to accept a brand they are not familiar with, "
Brauer said. " You can't just throw money into
changing people's minds. It takes time. "
In a best-case scenario, he added, it may
take a decade to really take root in the U.S.
But VinFast's secret weapon may just be its
speed.
It built its factory in Hai Phong in only 12
months, and launched its first three models
TESLA
Hertz deal could
spur competition
continued from Page 3
announcements, almost like legacy
automakers dipping their toes into
EVs, " he said. " So the sinking feeling
in my stomach came from thinking
my Model 3s and Model Ys might be
priced in a way that isn't competitive
with Hertz. That part sucks. "
The Tesla deal was the first of several
Hertz announcements last
week. It was followed by a partnership
to rent Teslas to Uber drivers
and a deal with Carvana to sell rental
cars through its used-car platform.
Fields
also told CNN that Hertz
could acquire an additional 100,000
vehicles for Uber.
Despite suddenly facing a rental giant
in his EV niche, Levenson said he
embraces the move as being good
for EV adoption.
" I'm an investor in Tesla, I'm a
multi-vehicle rental owner, I'm a car
reviewer and I want people to have
access to EVs, " he said. His YouTube
VinFast Global
Founded: 2017
Headquarters: Hanoi, Vietnam
Assembly plant: Hai Phong, Vietnam
CEO: Michael Lohscheller
Annual capacity: 250,000 vehicles
2020 sales: 30,000
2021 sales forecast: 45,000
Upcoming models: VF e35, VF e36
electric crossovers
U.S. launch date: 2022
International presence: Offices in
U.S., Canada, Germany, France,
Netherlands
within 18 months of completing the plant. In
the market segments in which it competes in
Vietnam, it achieved No. 1 market share just
18 months after launching its first gasoline
nameplate in 2019, the Fadil.
Now, VinFast is joining the industry's shift
from internal combustion to electric by
launching six EVs,
starting with the VF e34
compact crossover. That product racked up
25,000 preorders in the first three months it
was offered. Deliveries begin in December.
Next year, VinFast kicks off a Go Global expansion
phase with the two new larger crossovers
that will be on display at the Los Angeles
show - the VF e35 and VF e36.
Three more smaller EVs are planned for
2023 and beyond.
VinFast has all the markings of a modern
high-tech automotive disrupter. It is promising
the latest automated driving abilities and
talking about artificial intelligence, augmented
reality and solid-state batteries. And Vingroup
has two female vice chairwomen overseeing
the automaker.
When VinFast begins taking U.S. orders for the
VF e35 and VF e36 in the first half of 2022, the
company intends to bypass franchised dealers
and retail through a purely digital format.
" We will not establish dealer systems, but
we will have showrooms and self-deploy the
distribution and sales activities to ensure
high-standard services for customers, "
Lohscheller said.
" This represents our primary positioning in
the near future. However, further in the future,
we will welcome opportunities to cooperate
with leading distribution agents in the
global markets. "
Tech features
The VF e35 and VF e36 will have 300-kw
motor systems, powered by an 86 kilowatt-hour
battery in the e35 and 96 kiloTesla's
wild week
The EV maker's shares surged
18% in Nasdaq trading last
week through Thursday, Oct.
28, pushing its market
capitalization over $1 trillion.
 Hertz said it plans to buy
100,000 vehicles, starting
with Model 3 sedans.
 Tesla issued 10.3 version
of " self-driving " software,
rolled it back, then released
10.3.1.
 NHTSA said Tesla issued a
confidential response to
Autopilot crash
investigation.
channel The Kilowatts has featured
multiple EV brands.
With his West Coast rental startup,
Levenson and his partners in Seattle
and Portland hope to get a jump on
market interest in the Cybertruck that
Tesla plans to build next year. With
multiple Cybertruck reservations, the
partners are hoping to stock up on the
wildly styled pickup before Hertz
shows interest.
watt-hour battery in the e36. Driving range is
up to 310 miles for the e35 and 340 miles for
the e36.
The figures are based on the European standard
- the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles
Test Procedure, which is considered more
optimistic than the U.S. standard set by the EPA.
As part of its strategy, it will rely on a battery
rental program and a 10-year warranty that
will bring " assurance and convenience to
customers. "
The upcoming vehicles will also have a
suite of autonomous driving technologies, including
lane-keep assist and collision warning
as well as automated parking and summon-vehicle
functions.
VinFast says its new vehicles will debut with
" Level 2.5 " autonomous features but be Level
3 " compatible. "
Level 3 means the vehicle is capable of
making driving decisions, allowing drivers to
take their hands off the wheel and their eyes
off the road.
Inside, both electric crossovers sport a
slimmed-down, minimalistic dashboard
dominated by a massive touch screen, mimicking
the futuristic layout pioneered by Tesla.
There is no instrument cluster or meter
display behind the steering wheel.
Storied Italian styling studio Pininfarina
lent its hand to the sophisticated, understated
exteriors.
Other markets
After the L.A. show, VinFast will take its
technology to CES in Las Vegas, where it plans
to introduce its electric lineup at another Tesla-inspired
event, a VinFast Global EV Day.
Tapping into America is not VinFast's only
goal. In July, it opened offices in Canada,
France, Germany and the Netherlands. It plans
to launch sales in those markets next year, too.
VinFast says its Hai Phong plant is ready to
In the meantime, Model 3s and Ys
are the perfect rental EVs, he said, because
they are desirable, easier to operate
than people might think and
have a dedicated charging network for
hassle-free fueling. That cannot be
said of some would-be competitors.
Levenson has 500 rentals under his
belt. About half of his renters have
driven Teslas before and some are
owners. The other half are new to the
brand. While a minority of renters
are using the vehicles for an extended
test drive, most are visitors or locals
who need to get around the Bay
Area or beyond.
Levenson has a two-minute YouTube
video as a quick-start guide or
he'll walk customers through the basic
functions if he is present for the vehicle
handoff. Maybe 1 in 10 customers
have a question after that. " It's really
amazing how they've designed
these cars to be rental cars, " he said.
Take the 15-inch touch screen that
operates nearly every vehicle function
- that's not something you'll
find on a current Hertz lot. Even the
glove box on Teslas requires the
touch of a virtual button. Some
might assume an uninitiated renter
VinFast says
its factory has
1,200 robots
and can build
250,000
vehicles a
year.
supply them.
The highly automated factory has 1,200 robots
and capacity to build 250,000 vehicles a
year. It can also make 500,000 electric motorcycles
a year.
The assembly plant occupies about half of a
1,700-acre plot that VinFast hopes will accommodate
expansion as sales grow. " But in
the future, " Lohscheller said, " VinFast may
consider organizing production in the host
countries depending on the actual needs. "
An integrated supplier park seamlessly
feeds the assembly line.
On-site operators include LG Chem for batteries,
ZF for suspension and gearboxes, Faurecia
for interior and exterior assembly, Lear for
seating and Namyang Nexmo for steering.
VinFast counts South Korea's Samsung SDI
among its other battery partners. And in August,
it agreed with Chinese battery maker
Gotion High-Tech Co. to discuss buying lithium
iron phosphate batteries and possibly
building a plant in Vietnam to produce them.
This chemistry, known as LFP, doesn't use cobalt
or magnesium and is seen as a low-cost
alternative for future EVs. The iron phosphate
chemistry is another new approach being
pursued by Tesla.
VinFast says it has an R&D engineering staff
of 1,900 when leveraging the artificial intelligence
and big data engineers across Vingroup.
To help fund the expansion, VinFast said in
April it was considering an initial public offering.
That announcement came in response
to market rumors that it might be planning a
U.S. listing.
" I have always been attracted by new challenges, "
Lohscheller, a veteran of Mitsubishi,
Volkswagen and Opel, said in the statement
that announced his appointment. " When the
opportunity came to join VinFast, I was immediately
attracted because of the growth
opportunities. " m
could be intimidated.
" That is a total misconception, "
said Levenson. " People pick it up so
easily and intuitively. " Some Hertz
renters who end up in a Tesla might
struggle if they were expecting a
more conventional vehicle, Levenson
said. But visual guides such as
the one he's created should make
initial confusion a nonissue, he said.
Charging up during the rental period
is another potential pain point.
But unlike other EV makers, Tesla
has its own Supercharger network
with plug-and-charge capability that
bills directly to a Tesla account.
Levenson said that renters rarely
have questions about Tesla charging
while on the road. It's more common
with renters of his Mach-E, who have
to deal with multiple charging networks
and different forms of payment.
It's getting better, with Electrify
America offering plug-and-charge
capability for the Ford.
Another potential concern with
electric vehicle rentals is depreciation,
given the relatively high prices
for Teslas and similar premium EVs.
Even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk
said that Hertz paid full price for the
Model 3s, the rental giant may not
have to worry about rapid depreciation
in the short term. Tesla is supply
constrained for the foreseeable future
and has been steadily raising
prices in response to strong demand.
" I think Hertz sees the long-term
value that a Tesla has in terms of asset
depreciation, " Levenson said.
The ultimate goal for him and other
Tesla-focused entrepreneurs is a future
robotaxi network where the vehicles
could generate income as part of
an autonomous-vehicle service. That
would vastly increase their value.
Ride-hailing companies such as Uber
and Lyft would be logical customers.
Levenson anticipates that autonomy
is probably five years out. Tesla
may not be the first company to master
the complicated task, but he appreciates
that it's trying.
" The frustrating thing about the
Mach-E, as it's built today, is that it
will never be fully autonomous, " he
said. " Tesla is actually working on
making my current vehicle fully
autonomous and that inherently has
a higher value to me. So I'm interested
in buying other EVs that are attempting
full autonomy. " c
http://www.iSeeCars.com
Automotive News - November 1, 2021

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