Vietnam will join the car-manufacturing nations of the world at the Paris Motor Show next October, when auto company VinFast launches its first two models, a saloon and an SUV.

VinFast may sound more like a product aimed at oenophiles, but the Vietnamese car company went right to the top when it came to designing its first releases, working with the Pininfarina design team in Italy to come up with a classic, tradition-based concept for the saloon and what it calls a “more muscular bonnet and bold, purposeful character lines” to give it “a more sporty identity”.

The two will go on show in Paris for the first time on 2 October. Says David Lyon, VinFast’s director of design: “The strong, distinguishable design, enhanced by elegant lines and refined details, gives our cars several distinctive highlights.

“First and foremost, these emanate from around the V logo in the grille which references the country of Vietnam, as well as the Vingroup and VinFast brands. In conjunction with Pininfarina, we have carefully sculpted each body line to express the natural beauty of Vietnam and the warm-hearted and dynamic characteristics of its people, through a modern and world-class design language.”

According to Lyon, a highlight of the debutant’s design language is prominent at the front of both cars. The chrome V emblem lies at the centre of the grille, while to the right is a horizontal chrome splint that combines with the LED daytime running lights to create an italicised F-motif, representing the second syllable of VinFast, and a unique asymmetric flourish. 

In Association with

VinFast involved the Vietnamese people in the design process, and asked for advice on the styling direction at the very start of the design process. More than 62,000 people voted on 20 design sketches from four Italian car design houses. Starting with ItalDesign’s winning concepts, the cars’ designs were then developed and completed by Pininfarina.

The cars will be made in a new, 335-hectare plant complex in Cat Hai, Hai Phong, in northern Vietnam. VinFast is a subsidiary of Vingroup, the largest private enterprise in Vietnam, and delivery of its cars will commence in Vietnam from September next year.

The company signed up to a strategic partnership with General Motors earlier this year, and both Lyon and VinFast chief executive James de Luca came to the Vietnamese firm from GM.