Daybreak - Vinfast’s radical EV strategy for India: ditch the showrooms

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

Vinfast, Vietnam’s ambitious electric vehicle maker, is making its last-ditch global play in India after racking up billions in losses in the US and Europe. But its strategy is unlike anything the market has seen before. Instead of competing with giants like Tata and Mahindra in big metros with flashy showrooms, Vinfast is starting in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities like Coimbatore and Shimla—using car workshops as sales hubs.It’s betting on a country that is invested in EV adoption, rising middle class families who value range over power, and robust charging grid. The question is whether this unconventional approach will help it carve a space in India’s crowded EV market, or mark another costly failure.Tune in.Compete in India's first and only case competition. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Hi, this is Rohan Dharma Kumar. If you've heard any of the Ken's podcasts, you've probably heard me, my interruptions, my analogies, and my contrarian takes on most topics. And you might rightly be wondering why am I interrupting this episode too. It's for a special announcement. For the last few months, I and Sita Raman Ganeshan, my colleague and the Ken's deputy editor, have been working on an ambitious new podcast. It's called Intermission.

We want to tell the secret sauce stories of India's greatest companies. Stories of how they were born, how they fought to survive, how they build their organizations and culture, how they manage to innovate and thrive over decades, and most importantly, how they're poised today. To do that, Sita and I have been reading books, poring over reports, going through financial statements, digging up archives, and talking to dozens of people. And if that wasn't enough, we also decided to throw in video into the mix. Yes, you heard that right. Intermission has also had to find its footing in the world of multi-camera shoots in professional studios, laborious editing and extensive post-production.

Sita and I are still reeling from the intensity of our first studio recording. Intermission launches on March 23rd. To get alert, as soon as we release our first video. episode, please follow intermission on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or subscribe to the Ken's YouTube channel. You can find all of the links at the ken.com slash I am. With that, back to your episode. Winfast is employing a unique approach for its break into India. Vietnam's largest automaker has already burned billions trying to break into the US and European markets. Now, it's decided India will be its last shot at redemption.

its play is unlike every other global automaker that swoops into cities like Mumbai with glass showrooms and glossy marketing. Instead, Winfast is starting with car workshops. And even more surprisingly, they're focusing on workshops in Coimbatur, Shimla and other tier two towns. An EV executive the Ken spoke to says that Winfast is basically flipping the regular playbook on its head. Instead of asking showrooms to open service centers, it's asking service centers to sell cars. And right now, most of its 27 dealerships are located in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Now, one of the company's dealer representatives said that this is because metro cities are already crowded, with dealerships from Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai and MG.

Basically, the real gap is in smaller cities, and that's where Winfast wants to fit in. For Winfast, addressing this gap is a matter of urgency. In 2024, the automaker posted more than $3 billion in losses. That's not the sort of number that allows for a careful weight and watch expansion. My colleague, the Ken reporter Keshav, spoke to Deb Mukherjee, the former managing director of Omega Seiki or OSM, an electric three-wheeler company. His opinion is that Winfas India pivot is crucial, and that means it has to cut friction wherever it can in the Indian market.

The thing is, India's EV market is still small. Only about four out of every hundred cars that are sold is an EV. But it's also scaling rapidly. In 2020, about 4,000 EVs were sold. But by 2024, that is within four years, Niti Ayog reported that that number was 40 times higher, close to 1,000. Policymakers are also all for this growth.

They want electrification to hit 30% by 2030. But initial market friction aside, the other challenge for Winfast is local incumbents like Tata Motors and Mahindra, who already own more than half the market. Other foreign entrants like MG Motor have also climbed to number two in just six years. So basically, Winfast has to change up its game majorly. For the sales of its first two SUV models, the VF6, which is priced at 16 lakh rupees and

VF7 that sells for 25 lakh rupees, the company is leaning on multi-brand workshops that usually just repair cars. FAM Shang-Chao, Winfass Asia CEO, said that Winfast considers India a key growth market, where awareness of sustainability is growing alongside the demand for cost-effective solutions. So there's two ways this could go. In a market where Ford and GM already fled because they couldn't deal with market competition, windfast moves could be genius. Or it could be digging itself a deeper grave.

Welcome to Daybreak, a business podcast from the Ken. I'm your host Rachel Virgis and every day of the week, my co-host, Nikta Sharma and I will bring you one new story that is worth understanding and worth your time. Today's Wednesday, the 24th of September. Winfast is basically reimagining dealership. It's not competing directly with Tata and Mahindra's sprawling dealer networks. Instead, it's partnering with MyTVS, a car accessories brand and Roadgrid, a mobility solution provider to create 240-T-S,

which is sales, service and spare parts centers across the country. Here's how it works. Workshops pay a $21-lack rupees franchise fee and stock Winfast display. for this, a workshop owner in Delhi NCR told us they earn a 3% sales commission. The EV executive who we spoke to earlier said that it's a well-thought-out plan, pointing out that MyTVS already runs 1,000 service centers across 400 cities. Part of the plan to reduce friction is also Winfass positioning of Fam Shank Chow as the Asia CEO. He was formerly Vietnam's ambassador to India.

Winfast hired him in August 2023, hoping that connections from his past life would help the company navigate bureaucratic hurdles here. Chau believes that customers in India want affordability, reliability and strong after-sale support, along with the latest technology. That's why Winfast isn't just launching products. It's also building an ecosystem with charging, service and customer-friendly touchpoints. But this plan isn't without its skeptics. We spoke to Prabhakar Kadapa, an auto industry veteran who told my colleague Keshav that customers typically do not buy cars from workshops. Basically, a workshop runs the risk of feeling more like a greasy garage than a premium showroom. And if premium showrooms are what customers are expecting, Winfah's credibility could take a

serious hit. Plans to avoid this result are already in motion though. Roadgrid co-founder Shashank Narayan claims that strict SOPs will prevent that. He said outlets will feature Winfas branding and customer lounges with trained mechanics using authorized tools and spares. Servicing, which is often a pain point for EV owners will be prioritized with two dedicated base per outlet and key parts will be kept in stock thanks to demand forecasting. But there's more to the Tier 2 and Tier 3 focus. As per JMK research between FY22 and FY25, EVEV penetration in smaller towns increased by about 7%. Along with this boom in adoption, there are other practical reasons. Narayan explained that in a small city, a car might travel 200 kilometres at most. And you can even even, you can even

easily do that on half a battery and just one overnight charge. The challenge, however, is price. Winfast's SUVs sit firmly in the premium bracket. Kadapa believes a focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 is risky without a very affordable product. That is something under $6,000. For example, Tata dominates smaller cities with EVs that cost less than $15,000, which made up nearly 70% of its sales in early 2024. Still, Winfast is betting that rising middle-class family,

in places like Surat and Pune will trade up. The plan is to attract them with bigger batteries, longer ranges and the status of being early adopters. Its SUVs boast some of the largest batteries in their segment and are aimed at buyers who value range over raw power. Dave Mukherjee, the ex-OSMMD, argued that this could be Winfass edge. He pointed out that Ford and GM failed in India because they focused on power. Winfast, on the other hand, is going all in on EVs.

And that is exactly what could be its mode. For now, curiosity is high. Even before the first rollout, Winfast has already locked 8,000 pre-bookings, mostly from smaller city early adopters willing to test this experiment. But this isn't their only unique play in India. More on this in the next segment. It's not just the service centres doubling as sellers play,

that's Winfass strategy for India. Its charging strategy also seems like an unusual take. Most automakers in India partner with established charge point operators like Tata power, charge zone or static. Winfast is skipping all of them. A person close to developments told Keshav that Winfast has instead spoken to Vee Green. Vee Green is a company 90% owned by Winfass's founder Fam Niet Wung to build a parallel charging network in India. The deal is yet to be finalized though. You see, in Vietnam, Vigreen already runs more than 1,000-50,000 charging ports.

and it plans to replicate a similar scale in India. The plan is quite ambitious. 5,000 touch points, spanning home chargers, workshop stations and public charging units. These range from slow chargers for at-home use to fast ones for the highway, which will cover 2, 3 and 4 wheelers. The same person close to these developments

also said that all EVs will be able to use V-Green stations. But Winfast drivers will likely get discounts. So, while the network won't be excluded, they will be preferential. On top of this, Winfast will also launch an app that lists both V-Green and third-party stations, though payments at non-Vee Green outlets will still require separate apps. Now, the upside is obvious. Winfast gets tighter control over customer experience and quicker tweaks to match local needs.

An executive at a rival automaker said that they will be able to regulate the offerings much faster and be quicker to adapt to the market. On the other hand, there's also an obvious down. side. Money. Pulkit Lodha, senior business development manager at Static, warned that setting up a charger requires huge capital investment. He gave the example of Blue Smart charge, an app launched by the ride-sharing firm Blue Smart to help EV users locate charging stations. Its attempt to scale ultimately collapsed under the weight of infrastructure costs. Mugherjee elaborated on this, saying that you basically need a huge CAPEX on infrastructure. That includes land, building, electric

clients, etc. Essentially, it becomes a real estate play with complicated state level bylaws and that takes time and resources to sort out. But the Indian government is pushing for EV adoption and that could help Winfast in these developments. Stay tuned. The Indian government is pushing hard to accelerate EV adoption. So Winfass bet isn't really happening in a vacuum. Under the 2025 scheme to promote manufacturing of electric passenger cars, automakers are being nudged to build locally, while the PLI scheme offers direct rewards for hitting production targets. But the push isn't just about domestic demand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August itself highlighted India's aim to export EVs to over 100

countries. For foreign automakers like Winfast, that means India is both a growth market and a potential export hub. Let's not forget Winfast's staggering losses. So India is where the turnaround has to begin. Winfast has already. committed $2 billion to the country, including a $500 million plant in Tamil Nadu capable of producing 1,000000 cars a year. Chau added that for subsequent phases, Winfast will allocate resources progressively, keeping in alignment with market growth and evolving customer demand. The company has even patented new green line models, lined up e-scooters and e-buses, and positioned itself to launch a new EV every six months. It finally comes down to this. To do

launched the graveyard of foreign flops in India, Winfast is betting on its speed, audacity, win-groups billions, and a new distribution model. So if Indian buyers embrace it like they once did Japanese and Korean brands, it lives to fight another day. If not, after its initial failure in the US, India will bury its global ambitions once more. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of the Ken,

India's first subscriber-focused business news platform. What you're listening to is just a small sample of our subscriber-only offerings. A full subscription offers daily long-form feature stories, newsletters and a whole bunch of premium podcasts. To subscribe, head to the ken.com and click on the red subscribe button on the top of the Ken website. Today's episode was hosted and produced by my colleague Rachel Varghis and edited by

Rajiv Sien.