Tesla (TSLA) rival VinFast, which launched operations in Vietnam in 2017, is navigating some bumps in the road as it gets started delivering vehicles in the US.
VinFast began taking orders for its VF8 eSUV electric models in January 2022, opened its first US sales locations in July 2022 in Berkeley, Commerce, Corte Madera, San Diego, San Mateo and Santa Monica, Calif., with plans to open more than 30 locations in the Golden State before expanding across the nation, then it began delivering vehicles in November 2022.
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VinFast's new VF8 eSUV, which has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $46,900, just rolled of the ship in the US with a range of 243 to 264 miles on a full charge and comes with a 10-year, 125,000 mile warranty. That shipment of 1,879 vehicles, which arrived in the US in early May, will be delivered to customers beginning in June, the company said.
The original batch of 999 VinFast VF8 City Edition eSUV's that were delivered in November 2022 had a shorter battery range, but also had some serious problems with their electronics. VinFast on May 18 filed a voluntary Safety Recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a software defect that caused the EV's multimedia head unit to go blank when driving or stationary. When this occurs, the driver cannot view the display's warning lights or control icons, which could cause a crash. After an ignition cycle, the display screen returns to normal operation, the report said.
VinFast
Display Screen Problem Discovered in April
VinFast Customer Care Team first discovered the problem on April 27 as part of a daily review of customer comments and concerns when a single incident of a multimedia head unit losing its display screen image was identified. The VinFast Product Assurance Committee tracked incidents through May 9, discovered four more incidents and investigated to determine the cause before deciding in May 12 to issue a voluntary recall, the report said.
The recall affects up to 999 of the 2023 VF8 vehicles, though only 264 of the vehicles had been distributed. Of the 999 vehicles, 111 were held by customers and 153 were in fleet service. The remaining 735 vehicles were in the company's possession and not delivered.
VinFast is not aware of any field reports of incidents in the United States on vehicles in customer hands or in company fleet service. VinFast is aware of 18 reported occurrences on 14 vehicles. Of the 18 occurrences, eight occurred while the vehicle was in park, five occurred while the vehicle was not in park, and in five occurrences, the position of the shift selector lever was not reported.
Software Repairs Made Over the Air
Repairs for this software issue will be provided free of charge to vehicle owners and would have been covered under vehicle warranties before the recall was issued. A software update for the multimedia head unit that will fix the problem will be delivered to vehicles over the air beginning May 25, according to the report.
The company planned to notify dealers on May 25, while vehicle owners would be notified between May 29 and June 2.
VinFast had another recall of 2,781 VF8 SUV vehicles sold in Vietnam over a problem with front brakes, according to InsideEVs. The company said it would check the 999 VF8 vehicles shipped to the US for the brake problem.
