Vietnamese Automaker Launches Production

Vietnamese automaker VinFast launches production of cars with help from Italian design studio Pininfarina.

The 5.4 million-sq.-ft. (500,000-sq.-m) plant in the port city of Hai Phong is building Fadil hatchbacks and Pininfarina-designed Lux A2.0 sedans and Lux SA2.0 midsize SUVs. Initial capacity is 250,000 units per year, growing to 500,000 as production speed reaches 38 vehicles per hour, Pininfarina says in a news release.

VinFast received 10,000 pre-orders one year prior to the start of production and delivered its first car, a Fadil, on June 17. Deliveries of the Lux sedan and SUV, based on the BMW 5-Series and BMW X5, respectively, begin in late July, the release says.

VinFast, a member of Vingroup – Vietnam’s largest private company – expects to launch 12 models of cars and electric motorbikes in 2019 and 2020.