Exclusive: Zac Hollis resigns from VinFast ​​​​​​​in three months

Three months into joining Vietnamese EV major VinFast, Zac Hollis, Sales Operations Director for Asia region has resigned from the company.

This was his second short stint at a global car company in less than two years. Sources say Hollis resigned from the company citing personal reasons.

Before joining VinFast, Hollis was operations director for prestige models at MG Motor UK from October 2023 to January 2024.

The former brand director of Skoda Auto India had joined the Vietnamese EV major to drive the Asia sales operations. The company had announced the setting up of a new plant in Indonesia and had just signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Government to set up an integrated manufacturing facility in the state when Hollis had come on board.

Hollis, who had played an important role in the successful implementation of the critical India 2.0 strategy for the Skoda brand, was seen as a key architect in defining the globalisation strategy.

In a career spanning over two-and-a-half decades in the automotive industry, Hollis has extensive experience of working across functions in Europe and Asia. Before spending four years in India, Hollis led the China sales operation for Skoda Auto from 2016 to 2018.

Hollis’ onboarding had come at a time when Vietnam’s first-ever EV company had outlined an aggressive manufacturing game plan for the India market. Apart from overseeing India's entry strategy, Hollis was to play an important role in identifying key talent for the India arm, say people in the know.

In February, VinFast conducted a groundbreaking ceremony in Thoothukudi, which will evolve into an EV production hub in the region, with an annual manufacturing capacity of up to 150,000 units. Construction work for the factory is slated to start later this year.

Lauding India’s new policy that promotes electric car manufacturing and cuts import duty on certain cars, VinFast Auto’s India CEO Pham Sanh Chau said the policy will help the company introduce premium-quality sports utility vehicles at inclusive prices.

The Indian government in March unveiled a new EV policy that drastically reduces the import duty on certain electric cars to 15% from the current 70-100% for five years, provided the automaker invests at least Rs 4,150 crore, or USD 500 million, to make in India within three years, which VinFast is likely to apply for.