Let’s just say that VinFast didn’t get off to a roaring start in the Philippines. Whether it was a result of unfamiliarity with the market’s inner workings or just simply bad luck with some products, I leave it to those with a more direct interaction with the brand – at least through the latter – to make their conclusions.
Personally, I have driven VinFast vehicles without issue, at least for the short instances I was behind the wheel during a trip Ho Chi Minh in the middle of the year, and just recently for a media/content creator trip to Hanoi. Speaking of Vietnam, VinFast boasted recently that it set a national record there in sales – breaching 100,000 units after three quarters of 2025 – to become the first auto brand in the country to notch the feat. “The milestone follows 11 consecutive months as the nation’s bestselling carmaker, underscoring VinFast’s unchallenged leadership in the domestic automotive market,” the firm boasted in a release.
But again, even if VinFast is on a high with its performance on home soil, there is serious work to be done to establish a foothold in overseas markets – an obviously huge part of its future. In light of its less-than-stellar reputational debut in the Philippines, the company’s hiring of one Antonio “Toti” Zara III is widely seen to be a step in the right direction.
“The story of VinFast goes beyond the product,” he said recently as he met with our delegation in Hanoi. “It’s about the ownership experience.”
Toti is no stranger to the industry where he has assumed various leadership positions in the past. He was last seen with ACMobility, handling new energy vehicle specialist BYD. Over the many years I’ve had a chance to interview Toti, he’s always harped on the inevitability of electrified mobility – even in the Philippines – owing to a range of benefits and advantages.
Now, he gets to double down on his vision. Newly minted as VinFast CEO for Southeast Asia, Zara will not only lead the Vietnamese full-electric auto brand’s, well, charge in the region, but make sure that an “ecosystem” supports its rollout. Plenty of things are keeping the executive busy: One is checking on VinFast’s US$200-million production facility in Indonesia, expected to open by the end of the year. Another similar factory in India is already open, and VinFast intends to scale up its initial US$500 million investment there to US$2 billion.
“So today, we’ve explained to media our strategy on how we would use the Vin Group ecosystem to really redefine and change the owner ownership experience,” he told a number of reporters right after a formal Q&A session with himself and VinFast Chief Engineer for the VF 6 and VF 7 Vincent John Pendlebury.
Amid a glut of so-called new energy vehicle marques and offerings in the Philippines today, the aforementioned girth of what constitutes VinFast’s ecosystem are among the brand’s main unique selling propositions (USPs), according to Zara.
“We are actually better, if not the same, as other brands in terms of range – which is critical,” he continued. “But again, I’d like to stress (that) it’s not about the car itself. It’s not about range, it’s not only about the technology, but the entire EV ownership.”
Programs
For Toti, it’s about getting behind the brand to inspire confidence in buyers. Obviously cognizant of a need to improve on this crucial area, Zara revealed plans to launch “special programs” unique to VinFast.
A particular one intends to show that VinFast is standing firmly behind its vehicles. The so-called “Residual Value Guarantee Program” will see VinFast Philippines guaranteeing 90 percent value for products that are six months old, with guarantees also in place for older products. For Zara, it makes perfect sense.
“It eliminates that barrier of EV ownership. Let me say that this is an offer that ICE (internal combustion engine) brands would not be able to do. How can we do this? It’s because of the ecosystem within the Vingroup. Because we are not only a car company, we are a mobility provider, and it’s the ecosystem that would generate that benefit.”
The Vingroup conglomerate which VinFast belongs to is a Hanoi-headquartered empire chaired by its founder Pham Nhat Vuong. The group has vast interests in various sectors from technology, real estate, infrastructure, healthcare, to energy and social enterprise.
In the Philippines, Zara wants to continue making inroads for VinFast by rolling out brand-exclusive charging points – toward realizing a dream of being the top EV brand (yes, you read that correctly) in the country. “We have clear line of sight on how to do that, and I’d like to think that it will happen very soon (the) exact timing of which I dare not say,” he posited.
“Are we competing against other BVs? Not directly, no. All the other EV brands (are) doing the same thing. We are advocating the transformation to green mobility. So while we are competing, we are complementing each other… as other brands become strong, as we become stronger. That’s good, because then we would accelerate the transformation towards electrified mobility.”
Another program, to be launched today, is “Pili Pilipinas.” Disclosed Zara, “It will be highlighting our future products, and we will ask people to vote instead of having these designs confidential, like all the other brands. We’ll make these designs public, and ask people to vote on their preferred design that will be critical inputs as we finalize future projects.”
Ticking boxes
Part of moving forward also means accepting that boxes need to be ticked. “We’re in a startup phase,” he conceded. We’re building the network. Right now, we have 10 showrooms that are not yet 100 percent in terms of facility readiness, in terms of people. We’re building the organization (which) I just joined. Our PR (public relations) director just joined the organization, our marketing director is still coming on board, our sales director is still coming on board.”
The key is to build brand awareness, and to that end VinFast is gearing up for a relaunch “in a big way.”
At the end of the day, Toti Zara wants people to test drive VinFast vehicles and remove doubts and misgivings over the brand and the powertrain format. “Everyone knows about the practicality of owning an EV, right? Our task now is to bust the myth surrounding EV ownership? We will bust the myth on range anxiety through the expansion of our partner V Green network. We will bust the myth on residual value through our Residual Value Guarantee. We will bust the myth on accessibility of service through our third-party workshops… again, we want to make that jump to electrified mobility an easier decision for the Filipino consumer to make.”
