VN has one more EV startup, teams up with German manufacturer

The news was released at a workshop on cooperation in investment and development between Thai Binh and Germany held by Thai Binh authorities and the German Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Vietnam June 28.

With the witness of Nguyen Khac Than, chair of Thai Binh province and leaders of relevant ministries and branches, Roding Mobility from Germany and Thai Binh Hung Thinh signed a cooperation agreement on R&D and manufacturing of electric vehicles and small-size electric cars in Vietnam.

Under the agreement, Roding Mobility will give technical consultancy and supervise the deployment of the R&D process of products, from design to experimenting, production, and transfer technology, to Thai Hung.

The company has 15 years of experience in technical consultancy and designing new automobile models in Europe and the US. Roding Mobility also provides chassis platforms to electric vehicles of many startup automobile startups and large groups, including BMW.

The project on developing the Thai Hung electromechanical plant in An Bai Town in Quynh Phu district in Thai Binh was approved by Thai Binh People’s Committee in January 2020 and then adjusted in December 2022 with an aim of doing outsourcing, assembling and making 2- and 3-wheel electric vehicles and electric cars.

The total capacity of the project is 15,000 products a year, including 5,000 electric cars.

Thai Hung plant is scheduled to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2023 and churn out the first products in 2024.

At first, the two sides will focus on city cars in accordance with European L7e standards with expected production capacity of 6,000 products in the first three years. After that, Thai Hung will manufacture and market A-segment electric car models.

Franz Ferdinand Heindlmeier, CEO of Roding Mobility, praised the electric vehicle development potential in Vietnam, especially small-size electric cars, believing that it is now the time for enterprises to develop electric cars in Vietnam.

He said he has a high expectation on cooperation with Vietnamese enterprise, though he stressed that a startup in the field of electric vehicle manufacturing will face challenges.

Thai Hung Company was established in 2006 as a mechanical engineering outsourcing company, making products for export. In 2020, it underwent a restructuring process and became a startup in electric vehicle manufacturing.  

Analysts predict that the small-size electric car market in Vietnam will be bustling in the time to come with the Chinese Wuling model introduced on June 29 and VinFast’s VF3 which will begin to take orders from September.