After delays with its initial Vietnamese distributor, BYD made its launch into the Southeast Asian country this week with an aggressive sales network expansion.

BYD Vietnam expects to open ten 4S outlets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and 5 other provinces across the country by the end of July. It plans to expand to 100 4S stores across Vietnam within 3 years.

Three models are being offered in Vietnam which are the BYD Dolphin, BYD Atto 3, and BYD Seal. The cheapest BYD model, the Dolphin GLX starts at VND 659 million (~RM 121k) while its closest rival from Vietnam’s VinFast is the VF5 which starts from VND 468 million (~RM 86k).

Despite the significantly cheaper price of the VF5, it does not include the monthly battery subscription. But even with the battery included (VND 548 million/~RM 110k), the VF5 is still priced lower than the lone Dolphin variant.

BYD plans to introduce up to 6 models in the country by October but local assembly (CKD) plans for Vietnam have been pushed back, for now.

Still, Chinese brands have seen mixed success in Vietnam with most buyers favouring Korean or Japanese brands. While its homegrown brand switched to a BEV-only lineup, not many Vietnamese buyers are ready to go fully electric.

Last year, VinFast sold 32,000 BEVs globally but did not reveal individual market data. For comparison, the best-selling brand in Vietnam last year was Hyundai which saw 57,683 units sold according to VAMA, Vietnam’s equivalent of MAA.

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