‘Electric car tycoon’ BYD officially entered Vietnam in June, selling 6 car models this year

Vietnam’s electric car market may enter a period of exciting development in the second half of this year when BYD – the world’s top 1 new energy vehicle brand – will officially join.

Accordingly, this brand is urgently completing its human resources team and distribution agent system to officially enter the Vietnamese market this June. According to Mr. Vo Minh Luc – COO of BYD Vietnam, BYD will bring home 3 car models including Atto 3 (urban SUV size B+), small hatchback Dolphin and Seal (sedan size C+). All 3 are pure electric cars. Also this year, the company will bring 3 other car models to the country including BYD Han sedan (size D+), hybrid model Seal Lion (named in China Song Plus DM-i) and Tang (SUV size D).

Among these, Atto 3 is considered BYD’s flagship product in many markets, including Thailand with a selling price equivalent to 625-730 million VND). When returning home, Atto 3 will compete directly with gasoline-powered urban SUV models such as Kia Seltos or Hyundai Creta.

Explaining the delay in entering the Vietnamese market while launching products in most major markets in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mr. Liu Xue Liang, General Director of BYD’s automobile segment Asia – Pacific said that BYD assessed Vietnam as an important market with great potential, so it chose to launch last. Mr. Liu Xue Liang said BYD does not want to bring 1 or 2 car models but chooses to build an entire product ecosystem in the Vietnamese market. This brand’s plan is to cover the dealer system in 20 major provinces and cities across the country.

The company’s representative did not reveal the sales target, but according to private sources, BYD Vietnam wants Handed over about 5,000 vehicles until the end of this year, equivalent to nearly 900 vehicles/month.

This is a truly ambitious goal for a new company entering the market. However, Mr. Vo Minh Luc expressed confidence with the above figure, 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.

“Ten years ago, users lined up to buy iPhones, now in Thailand, we also see users lining up to buy BYD electric vehicle products,” said Mr. Liu Xue Liang. In the first year of launch, this brand occupied 40% of the electric vehicle market share in Thailand, 44% in Malaysia.

Mr. Liu also reaffirmed BYD’s message of wanting to build a factory in Vietnam but refused to reveal specific progress. In addition, the company also affirmed that it will not directly develop charging stations in Vietnam, but shared that many Vietnamese and foreign businesses are ready to do this. “BYD will invite domestic investors or foreign businesses with factories in Vietnam to do this,” he said.

Thus, after VinFast, BYD will be the second car company to provide a product range of many different new energy car models to the Vietnamese market. The company has not revealed 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 imported directly from China, not enjoying preferential tax rates like cars imported from ASEAN.

Talking about competition in the market, Mr. Liu affirmed that he does not consider VinFast a competitor but wants to work with VinFast and other manufacturers to develop the market and popularize electric vehicles to Vietnamese consumers.