New Pininfarina SUV and saloon designs to become first Vietnamese cars

Two striking Pininfarina car designs are set to make production in Vietnam after a unique voting process that featured almost 62,000 people.

The designs, an SUV and saloon, share similar looks and were chosen over 20 other examples from rival design houses. They're due to become primary models from a new Vietnamese car brand called Vinfast.

Italian design house Pininfarina said that while the designs are set for further development, they are on course to become the first cars made by a Vietnamese manufacturer.

Quang Viet Nguyen, who is the boss of Vinfast owner Vingroup, said “The direct involvement of Pininfarina, one of the world’s biggest design brands, is expected to bring modern beauty while retaining Vietnamese identity to the first two Vinfast car models”.

Vinfast plans to launch its first car in September 2019 and has ambitions of building 500,000 cars by 2025.

Pininfarina's latest project is the second in recent times to feature an Asian car maker. It announced last week that it has been working with Hong Kong car maker Hybrid Kinetic Group to produce an HK GT performance electric car. A single image of that car was released; it will feature a range-extending turbine generator.