New battery-electric baby SUV has rugged charm, but VinFast is targeting home market before export
Vietnamese car-maker VinFast has launched an all-new battery-electric compact SUV, the 2023 VinFast VF 3, which appears to have been inspired by the iconic Suzuki Jimny off-roader.
Orders in its home market open in September for the VinFast VF 3, which measures 3114mm from bumper to bumper – about 365mm less than the already-tiny Jimny.
Full details are still to be released, but the emerging Asian car-maker – which has benefited from Australian design and engineering expertise in recent years courtesy of ex-Holden personnel and facilities – says the battery-electric SUV will offer an “impressive travel distance” and “high safety standards”.
With reasonably good ground clearance, the rugged Vietnamese runabout dials up the adventurous attitude with pumped wheel-arches, upright windows and a largely blocky design motif.
It rides on 16-inch alloy wheels fitted with semi-chunky tyres and, according to VinFast, is “suitable for a wide range of applications and operating environments”.
However, the VF 3 appears to rely on a single electric motor, suggesting it may not be offered with all-wheel drive, most likely in a bid to keep costs down.
The two-door EV comes with a small boot and “sufficient interior space to accommodate up to five people”, says VinFast.
It will be offered in two trim levels, Eco and Plus, and carry an “accessible” price tag to ensure mass appeal.
It’s unclear whether the VF 3 will be offered in Australia or any export markets it already services, such as North America and Europe, where it currently sells bigger electric SUVs such as the VinFast VF 8.
For now, the focus is on the Vietnamese domestic market, where VinFast says the VF 3 has the potential to “fulfill the car dreams of millions of families while improving living standards and serving as a powerful catalyst for the widespread adoption of electric cars in Vietnam”.
Although the order book opens soon, first deliveries aren’t anticipated until the third quarter of next year.
Pitched as an alternative to scooters, which are hugely popular in Vietnam, the new VF 3 could be likened to the Tata Nano – an affordable compact car designed and built in India to democratise cars there. That vehicle was launched in 2008 and axed in 2018.
VinFast was widely expected to launch its EVs in Australia after investing heavily here with the establishment of an R&D centre in Victoria, recruiting former Holden personnel and operating out of premises in Port Melbourne and at the Lang Lang proving ground, which it purchased from GM.
It has since moved these operations back to Vietnam.
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Keyword: VinFast VF 3 EV is Vietnam’s answer to Suzuki Jimny