Vietnam’s electric vehicle market is poised to enter a period of rapid growth in the second half of this year when BYD – the world’s leading brand of new energy vehicles – officially enters the market.
Accordingly, the brand is rapidly completing its personnel and distribution network in order to officially enter the Vietnamese market this June. According to Mr. Vo Minh Luc – COO of BYD Vietnam, BYD will bring to Vietnam 3 car models including Atto 3 (B+ urban SUV), Dolphin compact hatchback and Seal (C+ sedan). All 3 are pure electric vehicles. Also this year, the company will bring 3 more car models to Vietnam including the BYD Han sedan (D+), the Seal Lion hybrid model (named Song Plus DM-i in China) and the Tang (D-segment SUV).
Inside a BYD showroom in Shenzhen (China).
Among them, Atto 3 is considered BYD’s主力产品main product in many markets, including Thailand with a price equivalent to 625-730 million VND). When coming to Vietnam, Atto 3 will directly compete with gasoline-powered urban SUV models such as Kia Seltos or Hyundai Creta.
Explaining the delay in entering the Vietnamese market while having launched products in most major markets in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mr. Liu Xue Liang, General Director of BYD Auto Asia-Pacific region said BYD considers Vietnam an important market with great potential, so it chose to launch last. Mr. Liu Xue Liang said that BYD does not want to bring in 1 or 2 car models, but rather to build an entire product ecosystem in the Vietnamese market. The brand’s plan is to cover the distribution system in 20 major provinces and cities across the country.
The company representative did not reveal the sales target, but according to private sources, BYD Vietnam wants to deliver approximately 5,000 vehicles by the end of this year, equivalent to nearly 900 vehicles/month.
This is a really ambitious target for a new entrant to the market. However, Mr. Vo Minh Luc is confident with the above number, especially when looking at the level of acceptance of Southeast Asian users for the company’s electric vehicles in markets such as Thailand and Indonesia.
“10 years ago, users lined up to buy iPhones, but now in Thailand, we also see people queuing up to buy BYD’s electric vehicles,” said Mr. Liu Xue Liang. In the first year of launch, the brand has captured 40% of the electric vehicle market share in Thailand and 44% in Malaysia.
Mr. Liu Xue Liang – General Director of BYD Auto Asia-Pacific region.
Mr. Liu also re-affirmed BYD’s message of wanting to build a factory in Vietnam but declined to provide specific progress. In addition, the company also confirmed that it will not directly develop charging stations in Vietnam, but shared that many Vietnamese and foreign enterprises are ready to do so. “BYD will invite domestic investors or foreign companies with factories in Vietnam to do this,” he said.
Thus, after VinFast, BYD will be the second car company to provide the market with a range of products including many different new energy vehicles for the Vietnamese market. The company has not yet disclosed the selling price of the car models, but it can be predicted that the initial price is unlikely to be too cheap because the car will be directly imported from China, not benefiting from preferential tariffs like ASEAN imported cars.
Talking about the competition in the market, Mr. Liu affirmed that he did not consider VinFast as a competitor but wanted to develop the market together with VinFast and other manufacturers, popularizing electric vehicles to Vietnamese consumers.
