Vietnam’s Vingroup JSC, the parent company of car maker VinFast, is looking to invest in a whole range of businesses, primarily in the transportation and energy sectors in India, with a long-term investment target of ₹16,000 crore in the country, said Pham San Chau, CEO, VinFast Asia. He was speaking after the launch of VinFast’s first two cars, VF6 and VF7, in India on Saturday.
Chau added that, in two years, VinFast has already spent half of its first commitment of ₹4,000 crore to set up a car assembly plant in Tamil Nadu and launch VinFast cars in India. It would be spending the rest over the next two years. The current production capacity is 50,000 cars a year, with the intention to increase it in phases.
The company intends to introduce a new car in the market every six months and is trying to establish itself as a maker of premium products with the VF6 and VF7 first before it goes further down the price range. The next product could be either the smaller VF3 or VF5, or a seven-seater vehicle. Chau said that even if smaller and less expensive than the current vehicles, it would still be a premium and quality product in that segment.
The VF6 has been launched in three versions with an introductory price range of ₹16.49 lakh to ₹18.29 lakh. The bigger VF7 has a price tag of ₹20.89 lakh to ₹25.49 lakh for its five versions, two of which have all-wheel drive. The introductory prices for both models are for the first 1,500 vehicles.
The company will be opening 35 showrooms and 240 extended service workshops. It also gives a warranty of 10 years or 200,000km and 24x7 roadside assistance over 19,000 PIN codes in India. VinFast will also offer free charging till July 2028 at charging stations set up by group company Vgreen, which is responsible for setting up the charging network. There will also be free maintenance for the first three years and free screens for the edge-to-edge panoramic sunroof.
In the automotive segment, other plans include an app cab service called GSM that the company is already running in Vietnam, to make electric buses under its VinBus brand, two-wheelers, and even lithium-ion batteries by group company VinES.
VinFast is looking at building a smart city over 20,000 acres and is talking to Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and other states about its plans. The company is also keen on a green energy foray.