If You Like EVs, Keep an Eye On TOGG and Vinfast In 2024

As 2024 unfolds, two battery-electric vehicle manufacturers are about to begin shipping affordable crossovers and SUVs to the masses. Hopefully, the masses will include America, but both of these brands are based outside of the influence of California and D.C., which now run the American automotive market, whether we like to believe it or not. 

TOGG is a company based in Turkey. Depending on who you ask, Turkey is home to the largest city in Europe, Istanbul, or one of the top two if you think of Moscow as part of Europe. I’ve been to Istanbul recently, and travel to Turkey regularly (on my own dime, not on media junkets). There are almost no battery-electric cars to be found. This is a gigantic new market just waiting to be exploited. By a fellow NATO partner. Who controls the East-West access point for all shipping in the region. That also has demographics on its side in the long term. 

You may have already heard of Vinfast. The company made a big media push over the past couple of years and its PR department deserves a standing ovation for its efforts to inform and educate the U.S. media. Quite a contrast to another BEV company, the name of which escapes me. I think it starts with T. 

Neither company has a car that goes 0-60 MPH in two seconds. Neither is led by a narcissistic ultra-genius whose image is on your social media feed (right now). Both plan to offer vehicles pointed squarely at the phat middle of the market rather the pointy top of the pyramid. They want to succeed in the segment where most vehicles are purchased. Both companies’ governments seem to have their back, rather than the weird situation we have here in America, where success is a sin, and profits are considered evil.

As 2024 unfolds, watch for TOGG to start to emerge in the global Eurasian market and for Vinfast to make gains in America. This electric vehicle expert’s spidey sense is tingling. Both of these companies seem a lot more interesting than the high-end BEV makers we’ve watched make the headlines over the past decade. 
 

Image of dealership courtesy of Vinfast. Second image courtesy of TOGG. 

John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can follow John on Twitter, and connect with him at Linkedin.