Bestselling Chinese mini EV to be assembled in Vietnam

Under a deal signed by Vietnam’s TMT Motors Corporation and SGMW, a joint venture between the U.S.’s General Motors and China’s SAIC and Wuling, the former will assemble the car in its factory in the northern province of Hung Yen and distribute it.

Since its launch in July 2020 the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV has in fact been the world’s best-selling mini electric car, with half of its sales of 1.1 million units coming from China.

In the Chinese market, it comes in four versions priced at $4,800-14,700, with the lowest priced one accounting for 90% of sales.

This model is sold in Europe as the FreZe Nikrob EV at prices starting at above $10,000. In Southeast Asia, the car was launched in Indonesia last June at $16,700-20,000.

Prices vary from country to country depending on subsidies for electric vehicles.

The small city car measures 2.9x1.9x1.6 meters and has a wheelbase of only 1.94 meters, or much smaller than a Kia Morning. It is a four-seater almost completely without bells and whistles.

The engine comes in several versions ranging from 27 HP to 41 HP, and the vehicle can run 120-300 km on a single charge with a top speed of 100 km/h.

Bui Van Huu, chairman of TMT Motors, said other models would be introduced in future to fully tap the Hung Yen plant’s capacity of 30,000 vehicles a year.

GM is among the top three automakers in the U.S., Wuling is the second largest carmaker in China and SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is one of that country’s "Big Four" state-owned auto companies.