Chinese electric carmaker BYD has opened its first stores in Vietnam and outlined plans to aggressively expand its dealer network there, posing a serious challenge to local rival VinFast.
BYD's 13 dealerships will officially open to the Vietnamese public on July 20. BYD hopes to expand the number of its dealerships to about 100 by 2026.
Vo Minh Luc, chief operating officer of BYD Vietnam, revealed that BYD's first product lineup in Vietnam will increase to six models from October, including the compact crossover Atto 3 (called "Yuan PLUS" in China). .
Currently, all BYD models supplied to Vietnam are imported from China. The Vietnamese government said last year that BYD had decided to build a factory in the north of the country to produce electric vehicles. However, according to news from the operator of the northern Vietnam industrial park in March this year, BYD's plans to build a factory in Vietnam have slowed down.
Vo Minh Luc said in a statement emailed to Reuters that BYD is negotiating with multiple local authorities in Vietnam to optimize the plant construction plan.
The BYD Atto 3’s starting price in Vietnam is VND766 million (approximately US$30,300), which is slightly higher than the VinFast VF 6’s starting price of VND675 million (approximately US$26,689.5).
Like BYD, VinFast no longer makes gasoline-engine cars. Last year, VinFast sold 32,000 electric vehicles in Vietnam, but most of the vehicles were sold to its subsidiaries.
HSBC predicted in a report in May that annual sales of electric two-wheelers and electric vehicles in Vietnam will be less than 1 million this year, but may increase to 2.5 million by 2036. vehicles or more.
Post time: Jul-26-2024