If you're a powerful international conglomerate that wants to sell cars in the U.S., the easiest approach is to buy a company that already does that. Think Tata with Jaguar and Land Rover, Geely with Volvo, or whoever controls Lotus these days. It's much more difficult, and smacks of a certain hubris, to forgo all incumbent brand awareness and institutional knowledge and just start building cars. But if any country loves blithe confidence, it's America, so let's give a warm welcome to the VinFast VF8, the latest answer to the question, "How hard can it be to build a car?"
VinFast which at least 30 percent of the U.S. population will initially hear as "SlimFast" is part of Vingroup Joint Stock Company, otherwise known simply as Vingroup, a sprawling Vietnamese company with interests in hospitality, real estate, education, and plenty more. If you want to know what a given Vingroup company does, the name is usually a clue: Vinhomes, VinUniversity, VinBigData (we shudder to ask what VinBrain does but can probably guess). The VF8, the first model to make it to the U.S., is a two-row, all-wheel-drive crossover-junior to the three-row VF9 but larger than the VF7. If that naming convention sounds so painfully obvious that it doesn't bear explaining, somebody please tell Infiniti to crib some notes.
この記事は Car and Driver の July - August 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Car and Driver の July - August 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
AN AMERICAN TOURING SCOTLAND IN AN ENGLISH CAR BUILT IN CHINA
In Dornbach, Scotland, Kitman walks past a modern MG and a Morris Minor, its distant relative. From left: Motoring through the Scottish Highlands; lobster traps in Dunbeath; taking on electrons at Gridserve; traversing the North Sea coast.
THE MAD SCRAMBLE
AN 814-HP V-12 THAT SCREAMS TO 9400 RPM IS JUST THE START OF THE INTENSE EXPERIENCE THAT IS THE LAMBORGHINI REVUELTO.
2022 Rivian R1T
This EV pickup proves to be E-Z to live with.
Spite Defender
Ineos Grenadier HIGHS: Dapper off-road style meets genuine off-road capability, wonderfully smooth powertrain, built like a brick outhouse. LOWS: Incessant warnings, sloppy and slow steering, noisy on the highway.
The Revivalist
The Nissan Murano emerges fresh-faced and revitalized from a long-overdue redo.
ELECTRICAL CONNECTION
The Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, and the Hyundai Sonata all take different approaches to hybridization, but which one does it best?
The Achilles Kneel
Mercedes-Benz W123 wagons doing the Carolina Squat can get their droopy self-leveling rear suspension back up to snuff courtesy of a Californian.
Dollars to Donuts
Despite the high cost, automakers are still drawn to racing.
G to the Power of E
Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology HIGHS: Quicker than the old G550, improved handling, better braking. LOWS: Cubist shape torpedoes highway range, cramped inside, dorky name.
The Best Odds
The cars I recall most fondly were neither the prettiest nor the quickest. Certainly not the most expensive. They were machines that emerged willfully peculiar and intractably idiosyncratic.
