Can anyone be the CEO of two companies at the same time? That’s pretty much what it may seem to happen now with Michael Lohscheller. Stellantis announced he would be replaced at Opel’s helm by Uwe Hochgeschurtz from September 1 on. Now, VinFast released that Lohscheller will be its new CEO but did not inform when he would start his new job.
Significant moves such as this one usually require a “quarantine” period. That’s what happened with Luca de Meo when he left Seat to lead Renault. He left Seat on January 7, 2020, and was announced as the new Renault CEO on January 29, 2020. Despite that, he only took over his new role on July 1, 2020.
In Lohscheller’s case, Stellantis only said that the executive “had decided to pursue a new challenge” outside the company but did not say Opel would get had an interim CEO nor if Lohscheller had stepped down when the announcement was made on July 13. Even if that were the case, he would not be away from Opel for as long as De Meo was from Seat.
With a corporate quarantine or not, Lohscheller already has a mission: help VinFast expand its presence in Europe and the U.S. In the company’s statement about hiring the German executive, VinFast says it is already present in Vietnam, the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Photo: VinFast
Lohscheller will move to Vietnam to help the local car company become a “global smart electric car company.” Apart from assisting Opel finally make a profit after years in the red, the executive also implemented Stellantis’ electrification there when he presented the Corsa-e at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show.
In Vietnam, VinFast already presented an electric crossover: the VF e34, which the company also calls VF31. With a range of 300 km (186.4 miles), it is 4.30 meters (14.1 ft) long, 1.79 m (5.9 ft) wide, 1.61 m (5.28 ft) tall, has a wheelbase of 2.61 m (8.56 ft), and weighs 1,490 kg (3,284.8 lbs). VinFast opened orders for it in May 2021 in its home country and will start delivering it in November 2021. But that was just the beginning.
The company also announced the VF32 and VF33. Respectively a mid-size and a full-size SUVs, they all promise top scores both at NHTSA and Euro NCAP tests. The VF32 is 4.75 m (15.58 ft) long and has a 2.95 m (9.67 ft) wheelbase. Two permanent magnet motors (one for each axle) give it AWD and 300 kW (402 hp) of power.
Photo: VinFast
The interior follows the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y recipe with a single screen in the middle of the dashboard doing the instrument panel’s and infotainment screen’s roles. Although it will have a 90 kWh battery pack, VinFast did not say how far it will travel.
The Vietnamese company will have a larger version of the VF32 with 5,12 m (16.79 ft) in length and 3.15 m (10.33 ft) of wheelbase. For this derivative, VinFast said that the 106 kWh battery pack would help it drive 550 km (341.7 miles), but the company did not say under which measuring method.
That means the VF33 will be even bigger, but VinFast did not release any technical specs about its electric flagship. At this point, Lorscheller’s mission is more about making these vehicles attractive to their international audience than about helping the company create a new electric lineup. That bit will have to wait a lot longer than September 1.
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