On October 8, 2026, VinFast announced that its VF Wild pickup had taken 10,997 deposits in under two weeks, since order books opened on September 25. The figure is the company’s own. These are deposits, not sales and not deliveries, and VinFast did not state the exact date on which the tally was closed. Put the number against the segment it is entering. The deposits equal about 41 percent of the 27,093 pickup trucks reported sold in Vietnam in the whole of 2025, and nearly 59 percent of the annual sales of the Ford Ranger, the model Vietnamese buyers treat as the segment benchmark. The 2025 figure is based on VAMA reporting and excludes the Nissan Navara, whose distributor does not publish sales data. The deposits are about 9.6 times the best single month of the Mitsubishi Triton, which sold 1,145 vehicles in August 2026, and more than 4.4 times the combined August sales of the four main pickup models on sale. A deposit book is not a delivery chart. But a deposit of VND 15 million per vehicle, stated as non-refundable and transferable only under program conditions, is a stronger signal than a registration of interest, and the segment has never seen one like it.
Driven by electricity, backed by a petrol generator
The Wild is interesting because of what powers it. It is a range-extended electric vehicle, or REEV: the wheels are driven entirely by an electric motor, and the petrol engine never turns them. Instead, the engine works as a generator, recharging a 46.4 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery that gives more than 250 kilometers of electric range under the NEDC standard, enough for several days of ordinary commuting. With the generator running, total range rises to more than 1,000 kilometers on a full charge and a full tank. That architecture is a direct answer to the pickup buyer objection to pure electric models: pickups work far from cities, tow, carry loads and cannot plan a day around a charger. VinFast is betting that buyers want electric running costs and quiet torque for daily driving, with petrol as insurance for the long trips. The vehicle itself is full-size by local standards, at 5,376 millimeters long with a 3,258 millimeter wheelbase and a cargo bed of 1,574 by 1,512 by 509 millimeters. It adds vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability, so the truck can run tools or appliances from its battery, a feature pitched at work sites and outdoor use.
VF Wild in brief
| Powertrain | Range-extended EV; an electric motor drives the wheels, a 1.5-liter petrol engine works as a generator |
| Battery | 46.4 kWh, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) |
| Electric range | More than 250 km (NEDC) |
| Combined range | More than 1,000 km (full charge and full tank) |
| Construction | Unibody, front-wheel drive |
| Payload | 750 kg |
| List price | From VND 860 million |
| Deposits | 10,997 in under two weeks (VinFast, October 8, 2026) |
Built like a car, not like a work truck
The construction is as unconventional as the powertrain. The Wild is a unibody vehicle with front-wheel drive and a multi-link rear suspension, a layout closer to a large crossover than to the trucks it competes with. The Ranger, Hilux and Triton are body-on-frame designs with leaf-spring rear axles, chosen for durability under heavy loads and for simple, cheap repairs after hard use. The trade runs both ways. A unibody shell should ride and handle better and feel more refined in the cabin, which suits the family and lifestyle buyers who use a pickup as everyday transport. But the rated payload of 750 kilograms, while normal for the segment, sits over the rear of a front-wheel-drive vehicle, which can run short of traction under a heavy load. And unibody damage is harder and costlier to put right than a bent ladder frame. Towing and hauling are the pickup segment’s core tests, and they are exactly the tests a deposit book cannot pass on the truck’s behalf.
Price is the second argument
List price starts at VND 860 million for black, red, and white versions, or about USD 33,077 at VND 26,000 to USD 1, with silver priced at VND 872 million. Early deposit customers between September 25 and 30 were offered a VND 61 million discount. Qualifying owners under the second Green Future program could add a further 5 percent discount, taking the combined benefit to as much as VND 104 million and the lowest effective price to about VND 756 million, or about USD 29,077. Pricing a large pickup at or below established diesel rivals, before running costs are counted, is the clearest explanation for the speed of the deposit book. Deliveries are scheduled to begin from late October 2026.
VinFast says the Wild also qualifies for a zero percent first registration fee, presenting the range-extended model as an electric vehicle for fee purposes. If applied, the saving is real money: at the standard 6 percent pickup rate, the fee on a VND 860 million truck would be VND 51.6 million, and VnExpress’s on-road price calculator still applies that 6 percent rate to the VF Wild. The classification behind the maker’s claim has been an open regulatory question this year. A Ministry of Finance letter of April 6, 2026 (Letter 4234/BTC-CST) confirms that fee rates follow vehicle groups and that grouping is set by Ministry of Construction rules. Those rules defined range-extended vehicles as a distinct class for the first time in 2026. The zero percent regime itself, set out in VoltViet’s explainer of Decree 202/2026, is written for battery electric vehicles, and a range-extended model is not a battery-only vehicle. The zero fee is therefore best read as the maker’s position, valuable if confirmed at the registration counter, but not yet a settled fact.
What the deposits do not yet prove
Three cautions belong in any honest reading. First, deposits convert at less than 100 percent in every launch, and VinFast has not disclosed a final conversion figure. The same announcement season showed how fluid demand can be across the range: in September, VF 5 and Herio Green deliveries fell about 42 percent from August to 2,472 units even as total VinFast deliveries rose 17 percent to 23,624. Second, a range-extended layout means an electric drivetrain plus a combustion-engine generator to maintain and warrant. Its real economy depends on how often owners actually plug in; a Wild that rarely charges is a petrol generator carrying a large battery. Third, the pickup segment is loyal and work-driven, and fleet and provincial buyers will test payload, durability, and resale values over years, not launch weeks. The Ranger reputation was built across exactly that timescale.
Why the bet matters beyond one model
VinFast has built its domestic lead on small and midsize cars for city families and ride-hailing fleets. Pickups are the remaining large segment where it had no product, and one where a single entrenched rival sets the standard. A successful Wild does three things at once. It completes the showroom, so a household can stay inside one brand from first car to work truck. It tests whether Vietnamese buyers accept range extension as a bridge technology, a question with implications for larger SUVs and for markets with thin charging networks. And it gives VinFast a product story for export conversations, since pickups are core segments in Thailand, Australia, and North America, even though no export plan for this model has been announced. The deposit book says the opening argument, price plus range without charger anxiety, has landed. The deliveries from late October, and the conversion rate VinFast chooses to publish, will say whether the pickup question has actually been answered.
Updated October 13, 2026: the headline now says deposits rather than orders, the comparison with 2025 pickup sales now states the coverage of that figure, and the registration fee passage now reflects the maker’s claim and the open classification question.
Related reading
- 23,624 Cars in One Month: Reading VinFast’s September Numbers
- The VF 3 Effect: How a Tiny Car Became a National Best Seller
- Free Charging Until 2029: the Economics of V-Green’s Long Bet
Sources
Tuổi Trẻ, October 2026, reporting VinFast’s October 8 announcement: 10,997 deposits since September 25, 2026, a VND 15 million non-refundable deposit per vehicle, prices from VND 860 million, combined incentives up to VND 104 million, and no cut-off date stated for the tally. vietnam.vn, October 2026, on VF Wild specifications: the 46.4 kWh LFP battery, electric range above 250 kilometers under NEDC, total range above 1,000 kilometers, dimensions and vehicle-to-load function. CafeF, October 2026, on the VAMA market figures: 27,093 pickups sold in Vietnam in 2025 excluding the Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger sales of 18,692 and the Mitsubishi Triton’s best month of 1,145 vehicles in August 2026. VnExpress, September 22, 2026, on the VF Wild’s unibody construction, front-wheel drive and multi-link rear suspension. VnExpress car price data, accessed October 13, 2026: VF Wild on-road price estimate applying a 6 percent first registration fee of VND 51.6 million. Ministry of Finance, Letter 4234/BTC-CST of April 6, 2026 (via the Thu Vien Phap Luat legal database), on the classification of range-extended electric vehicles.
