VinFast has caught attention from the public with its impressive presence at 2018 Paris Motor Show. Now it needs to choose a reasonable pricing strategy to conquer the home market.
Analysts are guessing wildly about the prices of the two first models of VinFast. Will they be super cars with BMW’s quality and Mazda’s price?
Some observers believe that a high-end car with German quality and Italian design would have a ‘Vietnamese price’.However, VinFast is not strong enough to attract buyers if it is as expensive as BMW.
The most likely scenario is that VinFast’s image should be ‘pegged’ to BMW with the quality a bit lower than the German brand and the price higher than Mazda. A Chinese brand also succeeds with this strategy.
Debut
VinFast had a wonderful performance at Paris Motor Show with the presence of David Beckham at the stall next to the one of the Italian giant – Ferrari.
For Nguyen Thanh Hai, dubbed Hai Kar, a well known name among car players, who was once marketing director of Bentley and Lamborghini Vietnam, said what attracted him most at the event were not the models, but the positions of the stalls. The stall with the name ‘VinFast’ was seen between the stalls of Kia and Ferrari, and near Suzuki’s.
“It is obvious that all the brands appearing at Paris Motor Show are very well known. VinFast only joined the automobile industry last year. Many people doubted VinFast could make cars. And the first model of the Vietnamese brand has made its debut,” he said.
VinFast features
Being a newcomer, VinFast chose to join hands with Pininfarina, the world’s leading designer whose name is attached to super cars and luxury products.
Regarding the engine, VinFast bought BMW’s technology, but it has been developed by AVL (Austria) and Magna (Canada).
For marketing, VinFast had many KOLs (key opinion leader) at the introduction event, including David Beckham and Vietnamese models.
Observers said VinFast might have to spend several million dollars to invite Beckham to the event. Prior to that, Jaguar also used Beckham when conquering the Chinese market.
Pricing
“VinFast’s models have the capacity of 174-228 horse power. I think VinFast would focus on an above average segment like Camry or Mazda 6,” Hai Kar said, adding that VinFast doesn’t intend to compete with products priced at VND500-700 million.
Meanwhile, with Vingroup leadership’s statement that VinFast cars will serve Vietnamese needs, it is not highly possible that VinFast models would be as expensive as BMW or Mercedes.
According to a report on Vietnamnet