Vietnamese startup VinFast has launched the President luxury SUV in its home market, where it will be limited to 500 examples. Pricing starts at 3.8 billion VND for the first 100 cars, which is equal to US$ 163,335 at the current exchange rates, and 4.6 billion VND (US$ 197,720) for the rest.
Previewed by the Lux V8 at last year’s
Geneva Motor Show, the President has been designed by Pininfarina. It sports a
V-shaped grille flanked by slim headlights, has a sculpted bonnet with an air
intake, a rear LED strip that follows the V-shaped pattern of the front end,
‘VinFast’ and ‘President’ logos on the tailgate and dual exhaust pipes on each
side of the discreet diffuser.
The President’s 18 exterior paint colors
can be contrasted by Gun Metal, Metallic Silver, Gold or Copper accents, which
can be found on both ends, on the doors, side sills, window line, roof rails
and wheels. Pininfarina has been responsible for sketching up the interior of
the SUV as well, which features premium Nappa leather and wood trim, with the
latter having a different pattern in each example. It also sports a 12.3-inch
infotainment system, 7-inch digital instrument cluster and premium audio with
13 high-end speakers.
Power is supplied by a GM-sourced
6.2-liter V8 that pumps out 420 horsepower and 624 Nm of torque.
It’s paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission and permanent four-wheel
drive, allowing the President to accelerate to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.8 seconds
and up to almost 300 km/h.
In addition to launching the SUV in
Vietnam, VinFast remains focused to the R&D of electric vehicles in order
to achieve its target of launching in the United States by 2021.
