VIETNAM Vietnam’ s EV market is on the rise and local EV manufacturer VinFast is leading the charge. In the country’ s 2024 auto sales performance, VinFast recorded 87,000 units sold for the entire year. The EV maker effectively beat out Toyota, which only sold 66,576 vehicles last year. VinFast also expanded operations overseas with plants in Indonesia and India. Though the company is not seeing the same success abroad, it released the Minio Green, its entry into micro-EVs.
VinFast’ s aggressive domestic approach contributes much to its success. One of its strategies includes an instalment incentive package with a loan up to 70 per cent of the price of their vehicle. VinFast customers can also avail of free parking up to 5 hours and priority parking in parent company VinGroup’ s locations until July 1 2026.
A survey by KPMG found that more Vietnamese citizens are interested in buying full electric vehicles, only beating ICE vehicles by a small margin. The same survey also found that the younger crowd( Gen Z and Millennials) are more likely to buy EVs, compared to their older counterparts who prefer ICE vehicles.
Like its neighbours, Vietnam has its own net-zero emissions goal to reach by the year 2050 and at least 22 per cent of its two-wheeler fleet and 30 per cent of its vehicles to be electric.
The capital city, Hanoi was named“ the world’ s most polluted metropolis” by IQAir last January
2025. The list revealed that Hanoi’ s air contains high levels of PM2.5 pollutants, which are microparticles that enter the bloodstream and severely damage lungs. Hanoi’ s air pollution claims at least 70,000 lives annually, overtaking cancer as the leading cause of death in Vietnam.
Experts point to vehicle emissions as one of two major factors in Hanoi’ s air pollution. The capital city alone houses a volume of 7 million motorcycles and more than 1 million cars. Vietnam, in general, will need sufficient support from its government in both financial and structural assistance if they are to reach their EV goals.
While ICE vehicles are still Vietnam’ s top-sellers, the popularity of EVs in Vietnam are largely supported by government policies. In 2022, the Vietnamese government offered its citizens full exemption on registration fees for EVs for three years and 50 per cent less on the following two years. This policy has since been extended to February 28, 2027, and applies to all vehicles except two-wheelers, Vietnam’ s vehicle of choice. Though electric two-wheelers have dominated the market long before EVs, statistics predict that EVs in Vietnam will rise to a million by the year 2028.
While EVs and charging ports take their place in Vietnam, some citizens are still hesitant to purchase these vehicles. A hefty price tag and concerns regarding maintenance and range are significant factors that influence the regular Vietnamese citizen’ s decision to purchase an EV.
14 ISSUE 52 APRIL 2025 / WWW. AFMA. ORG. AU