Volvo to sell EVs in Vietnam from 2023

The first EV model expected to arrive in Vietnam is the C40, an SUV. Volvo Car Malaysia (VCM) has announced plans to export EVs to Vietnam and the Philippines this year as part of efforts to transform Malaysia into an EV hub.

“Our assembly plant here in Malaysia plays an important role in our electrification ambition as we bring our EVs to two more ASEAN countries — Vietnam and the Philippines,” Charles Frump, managing director of VCM, said.

At present both the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric and C40 Recharge Pure Electric are assembled in Shah Alam city.

Volvo is among the world’s luxury automakers most actively preparing for an all-electric future. It targets that from 2030 onwards all its cars will be electric.

In Vietnam, its product range is fully hybrid.

If it brings the XC40 and C40 to Vietnam, Volvo will become the fourth luxury brand after Porsche, Audi and Mercedes to do so.

Because the product range is small and sales are low, no company has invested yet in installing public charging stations except Vietnamese carmaker VinFast.

Firms offer support to customers seeking to install charging stations at home or charge in their showrooms.

Over the past two years the EV trend has taken shape more clearly in Vietnam, but growth is slow compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Except for VinFast, which has a clear target of becoming a pure EV company, others are only moderately interested in the EV market because demand is not high and charging infrastructure remains limited.

Japan’s Toyota sells hybrid cars such as the Camry, Altis and Corolla Cross, and South Korea’s Kia brought back the Sorento hybrid to the Vietnamese market late last year.

Luxury brands offer few EV models: Porsche has only one, the Taycan, Audi has the e-tron GT and e-tron SUV and Mercedes has the EQS.