By Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnamese electric vehicles maker VinFast plans to ship its first EVs to Europe this year after receiving regulatory approval, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday, as the European Union considers imposing tariffs on its Chinese rivals.
Under the plan, about 3,000 of its VF8 crossovers would be delivered to France, Germany and the Netherlands in the fourth quarter of this year from VinFast’s factory in northern Vietnam, a person familiar with the plan told Reuters. The source declined to be named because these details were not yet public.
If fulfilled, Europe would become VinFast’s biggest overseas market this year. The company had shipped about 2,100 EVs earlier this year to the United States.
“We expect to deliver the first VF8 models to French, German and Dutch customers in the fourth quarter of this year,” Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast’s chief executive, said, adding the company’s other models VF6, VF7, and VF9 would be launched in the European market next year.
Thuy did not indicate the number of VF8 sport utility vehicles (SUVs), but the person familiar with the matter said it would be around 3,000 vehicles, including some for Israel.
The loss-making company repeatedly revises its targets.
(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio; editing by Miral Fahmy)
