Vietnamese carmaker VinFast debuts new saloon and SUV

Germany. Italy. Vietnam. It’s the obvious car-manufacturing trilogy. Well, it could be in years to come, as VinFast – Vietnam’s first volume car manufacturer – debuted its first car models at the Paris Motor Show.

The LUX A2.0 Sedan is “defined by exceptionally balanced and harmonious proportions". That translates as long flowing lines, chrome accents and minimalist headlights to create a sleek and executive look.

There’s also the LUX SA2.0 SUV, which beefs up the design with a “muscular and robust” appearance, ie a chunky grille, sporty additions and matte black and chrome highlights.

Both cars get a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, available in 173bhp and 227bhp variants, with a 0-62mph time of 8.9 seconds and 7.1 seconds respectively. All will be paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

VinFast also plans to introduce a city car, EV and an electric bus, due to export markets from 2020.

But these aren’t just any Asian mass-market machines. VinFast prides itself on the Vietnamese “pride, spirit and tenacity”, so much so that the design direction was influenced by a public vote. Bet there were no Boaty McBoatface suggestions over there. The design was also developed alongside Pininfarina in Italy to embrace European themes and styling, too.

Kevin Fisher, Vice President of Engineering at VinFast, said: “Our partnership strategy will enable us to achieve two crucial engineering imperatives – quality and timing. We will meet the world-class engineering and quality benchmarks we set for ourselves to ensure we deliver cars with international standards in safety, reliability, refinement and styling. And we will do so having dramatically shortened the timeframe – to less than two years – to bring our first cars to market.”