VinFast officially delivered its small electric car, the VF3, to pre-order customers on August 1, 2024, and many people took to social media to express their curiosity about when their turn to receive their vehicles would be, as the delivery order seemed quite random.
Those who hadn’t put down a deposit and were eager to get their hands on the car as soon as possible started reaching out to early adopters, hoping to find someone willing to part with their new vehicle and perhaps offer a small discount. However, some VinFast VF3 owners surprised potential buyers by quoting unexpectedly high prices.
Specifically, a customer from Dong Nai province, after having their VF3 for just one week and driving it for less than 30 kilometers, quickly put it back on the market for VND 256 million. The car was the battery rental version, initially priced at only VND 235 million. This vehicle eventually found a buyer at a final price of VND 250 million, giving the seller a profit of VND 15 million.
Another female customer from Ho Chi Minh City also resold her pink VinFast VF3 battery rental version, but after just five days of ownership, she only made a profit of a little over VND 3 million.
In another surprising turn of events, some customers who had previously placed deposits for the VinFast VF3 and now had no intention of taking delivery started advertising their reservations for sale. Some of them were even asking for a significant premium, with one person expecting to receive their car on August 20 and then reselling it for VND 270 million, a markup of VND 35 million, which left many people astonished.
While the practice of reselling reservations is not uncommon, the substantial markup of up to VND 35 million has drawn criticism. However, it’s important to note that VinFast does not allow reservation transfers, meaning they will only deliver and register the VF3 to the original depositor. Therefore, there are significant risks associated with purchasing a resold reservation.
The VF3 is powered by an electric motor mounted on the rear axle, delivering a maximum output of 43 horsepower and a peak torque of 110 Nm, enabling the car to accelerate from 0 to 50 km/h in 5.3 seconds. It is equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack with a usable capacity of 18.64 kWh, offering a range of 210 kilometers on a single charge according to the NEDC standard. Charging times vary from 5 hours to charge the battery from 10% to 70% using a slow charger to just 36 minutes using a fast charger.