Daniel Morello, Canadian Director of Customer Commitment at VinFast promoting his company’s VF 8, a mid-size, five-seat SUV, that is now available for order in Canada.
A splashy event in Yorkdale kicks off the launch
Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast has opened in Canada with a strategic plan that begins in Toronto and will continue soon in Greater Montreal and Vancouver.
VinFast celebrated its official opening on November 16 with a party in an inflatable bubble on the parking lot of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, where earlier this year it launched its first Canadian store.
Daniel Morello, VinFast’s Canadian Director of Customer Commitment, said the company will open a Quebec store in the CF Carrefour Laval Shopping Mall. The B.C. store will open at the Park Royal Shopping Centre in Vancouver. The plan will include opening up service centres toward the end of the year at offsite locations. The company is projecting to open eight stores by the end of the year with further expansion in 2023.
“We want to hit our target markets first, which is where the infrastructure is and where a lot of EV buyers are,” Morello told Canadian auto dealer. “We’re aware there is interest around Canada and we’re looking to expand, but we don’t have any specifics yet.”
The company is taking reservations for its VF 8, a mid-size, five-seat SUV, and the VF 9, a seven-seat SUV. It is expected the VF 8 will debut early in 2023 and the VF 9 shortly afterward. The VF 8 will begin with a starting price of $54,990, the VF 9 at $79,990. The cars will come with a 10-year, 200,000-kilometre warranty, 24-hour roadside assistance and mobile service.
“We’re offering something that is different,” said Morello. “We have a unique strategy. We’re focusing on the quality of our vehicle, our excellent customer service and our competitive pricing. We’re trying to have a high-quality product, but a more achievable price point versus other competitors.”
VinFast began selling vehicles in North America in the summer with six outlets in California.
“From VinFast’s standpoint, it’s all about sustainability—the smart services, the quality products—and to spread that to a wider base around the world,” said Morello. “That’s the goal, to bring that vision and that quality.”
Unlike B.C. and Quebec, Ontario will not be offering any consumer rebates on EV purchases, so that will be something that VinFast will face marketing its products. Shortly after its election in 2018, the Progressive Conservatives under Premier Doug Ford scrapped the rebates that were put in place by the previous Liberal government and which offered up to $14,000 in savings off the purchase price of an EV. Ford has a plan to build up to 400,000 EVs in Ontario by 2030 as part of the PC’s Driving Prosperity strategy, which includes investing heavily in the manufacturers building cars in the province rather than providing consumers with rebates.
“We believe we have the right mix of products and the right mix of pricing that will attract those customers to make it worthwhile for them,” said Morello.
