A battle between two foreign companies can be seen on Indian soil. This war is not like that. The biggest target of both the companies is the Indian market. One company is none other than Tesla, the world’s largest EV maker. On the other hand, Vietnamese EV company Vinfast is also preparing for its entry in India.
According to the report, the Vietnamese company may initially enter India with two to three e-cars. This will include a compact SUV crossover in April 2024 and then a full-size sedan and several models later.
According to the report, Vinfast’s first model VF E-34, which is a compact SUV crossover, will be imported. The subsequent e-SUVs including the VF e-36, VF6 and VF7 will be locally assembled in the primary stage before local production of some of them begins. According to the report, the company is currently reworking its portfolio to prepare a right-hand drive model for India.
The EV startup, which made its global debut in 2021 with its Tesla-rivaling electric cars, has identified India as its top right-hand-drive market and expects India to be its top right-hand-drive market in the next three to five years. Four out of 10 cars are thought to be in Asia. No official statement has come from the company yet in this regard.
Hiring started for Gurgaon office
Vinfast has started hiring for its future office in Gurgaon. Earlier this month, in a LinkedIn ad last month, it had said it was looking to hire dealer managers, sales training managers and service quality control personnel. The company has invited applications for legal, finance and HR roles. According to the report, those applying for the job should have at least three years of experience.
VinFast officials recently met 20-25 dealers in India to establish retail presence in the world’s third largest auto market. Vin Group’s EV manufacturing branch includes Vietnam, North America, Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands) and other new markets, but the company does not want to be limited to this. It is not gaining hold in Indonesia, India, the rest of Europe and the Middle East.
Many challenges in India
Barnik Chitran Maitra, managing partner of India and South Asia, Arthur D Little, said that considering the current ecosystem, it will be a big challenge for any EV maker to enter the four wheeler segment in the Indian market. If profitability is an issue for electric two wheelers, then range anxiety and charging infrastructure is a challenge in the electric car segment. He said that given the low demand, money has to be spent on both front end and back end to excite customers to buy EVs.
It is a good thing that China is not there in India.
Not everyone agrees with this. An analyst at a management consultancy firm said that the low entry barrier in EV and the absence of Chinese companies in India is a good news. Non-Chinese companies have a great opportunity to become big in India. The path is completely clear for all those companies, in which Chinese makers are nowhere.
However, Vinfast has not yet decided in which region of India it will set up the manufacturing unit. In the initial phase, the company is considering building a unit with a primary capacity of 50,000 units every year. Which can later be increased to 200,000 to 300,000 units capacity.
According to experts, future expansion of the company will be taken after seeing the response received by the company. Since its establishment in 2017, VinFast has announced several development plans overseas. The EV maker also said in its filing that it plans to create a presence in India, Malaysia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America and expand its presence in Europe.
Source: www.tv9hindi.com
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