VinFast vowed to respond to Tesla’s New Year price cuts with discounts of its own, making good on its promise. In addition, the Vietnamese company also boosted the driving range, which was far from impressive.
The EV startup priced the VF8 City Edition starting at $55,000 USD. It was more or less a blunder as the car only offered 179 miles (288km) of range, significantly lower than EVs in the same price range. The automaker quickly promised a software update to extend the range.
In a single swoop, VinFast slashed the price to $49,000 USD while boosting the driving range to 207 miles (333km). That meant a reduction of $6,000 in price and an increment of 45 miles in range.
The VF8 Plus City Edition now starts at $56,000 USD, down from $62,500 USD.
The City Edition still has a discount of $3,000, making the EV even cheaper. The price reduction also means buyers now get the VF8 Eco City Edition with a $6,314 deposit and $519 monthly installments.
Even with the discount, it will be difficult for VinFast to compete. For example, the Tesla Model Y starts at $53,490 and offers 330 miles (531km). Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 may also seem a better proposition, with a starting price of $41,450 and a driving range of 303 miles.
No similar price changes have been announced yet for the Canadian market. We have reached out to VinFast for comment and will update this article when we get a response.
VinFast recently consolidated its Canadian and American operations into North America, with headquarters in Los Angeles.
