There is a company here in Vietnam that makes some pretty interesting cars. Previously they had focused on a sort of car that I found sexy as hell and it had a BMW engine in it. The company is called Vinfast and prior to Covid times they had anticipated a global rollout and I don't know if that ever ended up happening.
While I don't hear about these cars anywhere else in the world they are all over the place here in Vietnam and recently the rolled out a small electric car that can be purchased brand new for around $10,000. This is, I think, very low for a car and we have started to see these things popping up all over the place.
They haven't been out long enough for anyone to really know if they are any good. I would imagine that they can't be given the really low price but I think they are pretty cool regardless. We have started to see them all over the place and one of the things that people like to do with them is customize them and make them unique with car wraps and kits that make it all your own style.
I ran into one of these that made me laugh while I was out walking to a haircut the other afternoon.
When i first ran across this place I thought that all of these cars were broken and that wasn't a good sign for a car that is so new. But later on a friend of mine who lives in the area and speaks some Vietnamese pointed out to me that these cars are not being repaired, they are being customized.
I thought this was very clever and cute. Right next to it was the same car but it was being outfitted with Hello Kitty decals and it looked like something that a child would like to have. I didn't take a photo of it because the guy was currently working on it and I don't like to make people feel uncomfortable by taking pictures of them without their permission. I'll get it in the future.
I think that before too long these cars are going to be everywhere and perhaps it was the idea of the manufacturer to customize them like this. It isn't exactly a super good-looking car and for $10,000, they can't possibly be fast or high-performance so we may as well make them silly and fun.
I do find the roof rack and ladder on the "girlfriend" car to be a bit stupid because let's be honest, that car isn't going anywhere that is off-road and if you own one you are probably just happy if it makes it on-road.
In a few years we will find out if these cars have any sort of long life in them and if that is the case (i hope so) this could be a wonderful advancement as far as affordable cars are concerned. I don't know how much a "regular car costs globally but I would imagine it has to be much more than $10,000. I always thought that EV's were super expensive because when I hear people talk about Tesla cars it is always something crazy like $100k that has to be spent to get one.
If I suddenly found out that I was going to be living in Vietnam permanently and needed a car I would definitely check out getting one of these. For now though, they haven't really been released long enough for anyone to know if they are any good. I have never been inside of one.
According to Google, this car is available in the United States as well and it is priced at under $13,000 all in. This might be a good little car for people on a budget back there as well. I just wonder if it is capable of getting up to highway speeds. For some reason the same car is €30,500. Why are things 3x the price up there? Any ideas?