Vietnamese Engineering: What the Country Builds Itself

Vietnam is no longer just the world's assembly line for other brands. It builds its own electric vehicles, warships, homegrown drones, and even launches its own satellites. And right next to Nha Trang sits one of Southeast Asia's biggest shipyards. Here's what technology Vietnam makes on its own — from cars to space.

VinFast — the Vietnamese EV that went global

VinFast is part of the Vingroup conglomerate and arguably the biggest symbol of Vietnam's engineering ambitions. The company builds electric cars, e-scooters and e-buses fully under its own brand — not assembling someone else's models, but designing and manufacturing its own.

2025 was a breakout year: VinFast delivered nearly 197,000 EVs worldwide — almost double the year before and a company record. Add over 406,000 e-scooters and e-mopeds, and the target for 2026 is 300,000 cars. VinFast shares trade on Nasdaq in the US.

THACO — the auto giant from Chu Lai

THACO (Truong Hai Group) is another Vietnamese carmaker, with a different strategy. Founded in 1997, it became one of the pioneers of Vietnam's auto industry. Today THACO is the country's sales leader: in 2024 it sold nearly 91,000 vehicles — more than a quarter of the whole market.

THACO's main asset is a huge manufacturing complex in Chu Lai (Quang Nam province): seven factories, including KIA and Mazda lines, a separate premium plant, a motorbike shop, and bus and truck factories. It produces both its own Thaco-branded buses and trucks and licensed models — KIA, Mazda, Peugeot, BMW, MINI.

77 million motorbikes and a Honda factory

Vietnam is a country on two wheels: there are about 77 million motorbikes here, almost one for every adult. No wonder one of Honda's biggest motorcycle manufacturing hubs in the world is located here — three Honda Vietnam plants with a combined capacity of 2.5 million motorcycles a year.

In June 2025 Honda Vietnam rolled out its 40-millionth motorbike, and the company holds about 70% of the local market. Its freshest challenger is VinFast, with its own electric scooters and a nationwide battery-swap station network.

Tractors and engines: VEAM

While Honda and Yamaha make motorbikes, tractors and farm machinery in Vietnam have long been made by VEAM — the Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation. It's the country's largest manufacturer in its niche: engines, gearboxes, ploughs, mini-tractors, rice mills.

VEAM employs over 20,000 people nationwide, and its products go to Vietnamese farms and abroad for export. It's also the official parts supplier for local Honda, Piaggio and Yamaha factories — Vietnamese-made components sit inside motorcycles of global brands.

Warships built in Vietnam

Military shipbuilding is another field where Vietnam long ago stopped relying on imports. The Ba Son shipyard, with a history of nearly 160 years, is the first and so far the only one in the country to build modern, high-tech warships, including a series of Molniya-class missile boats for the navy.

Another yard, Song Thu, builds landing transport ships to Dutch Damen international standards — and not just for the navy: Vietnamese-built patrol and fishery surveillance vessels are already exported abroad, including to Europe.

A giant shipyard an hour from Nha Trang

Here's a local detail: one of Southeast Asia's biggest shipyards sits right next to Nha Trang, in Van Phong Bay, Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province. It's HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding (formerly Hyundai-Vinashin) — a South Korean-Vietnamese joint venture that builds and repairs large ships.

It's about 53 km from Nha Trang — an hour's drive. Tourists don't usually go out of their way to visit, but the fact remains: one of the country's industrial giants operates right next door to the resort.

Viettel's drones and radars

Viettel, Vietnam's biggest telecom operator, has also grown into a defense technology giant. The company reinvests telecom profits into developing military equipment: reconnaissance drones, loitering munitions, radars and electronic warfare systems.

At recent defense expos, Viettel showed vertical-takeoff drones with optical sensors, AI-assisted tactical UAVs for target recognition, and mobile air-defense radars. The goal is to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and become a notable player in the region.

A Vietnamese satellite in orbit

Vietnam builds technology not just on land and at sea, but in space too. In 2019, MicroDragon — a 50-kilogram satellite assembled by 36 Vietnamese engineers trained at Japanese universities — was launched into orbit from Japan.

The satellite monitors coastal water quality and helps the fishing industry. The next step, NanoDragon, was developed entirely by Vietnamese engineers without foreign help. The work is led by the Vietnam National Space Center.

Folk inventors: a helicopter from scrap metal

A completely different, non-factory chapter of Vietnamese engineering is homemade inventors. In Tay Ninh province, farmer Le Van Danh and self-taught mechanic Tran Quoc Hai dreamed of owning a helicopter since childhood — they grew up near a US military base and grew fascinated with the machines.

It took seven years to build a working helicopter from scrap metal. Authorities were alarmed at first and confiscated it, but after engineers and scientists confirmed it was safe, it was returned. The pair built three helicopters in total — the idea was to help farmers spray fields from the air and evacuate people in emergencies.

From assembly line to homegrown brands

Just a couple of decades ago, Vietnam's auto industry was essentially screwdriver assembly — cars were put together from imported kits of foreign brands. Today the picture is different: VinFast sells electric cars in the US and Europe, and Vietnamese-built patrol boats are exported to European countries.

At the same time, the country is investing in defense technology and space — fields Vietnam had no access to until recently. The journey from assembly shop to homegrown brands and satellites took a little over one generation.

What this means for a visitor to Nha Trang

Walking around Nha Trang, you'll likely spot VinFast e-scooters and electric cars on the streets — they're already a familiar part of the cityscape. And if you head toward Cam Ranh in late March, you might catch Vietnam Bike Week, the country's biggest motorbike festival — another sign of Vietnam's love for two-wheeled machines.

Vietnam is a country that's learning fast to build complex things on its own. And if you want to mark the memories from your trip beautifully — we'll deliver a fresh bouquet or helium balloons to your hotel, villa or office the same day you order. Message us on WhatsApp, Telegram or KakaoTalk.