The tradition of Italian design houses helping Asian auto industries to emerge goes back to when Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign did the Hyundai Pony Coupe in 1974.
In 1996, Pininfarina became the first independent design company to sign an agreement with the Chinese auto industry. Now Pininfarina is helping to launch an auto industry in Vietnam.
The Turin-based creator of Ferraris will help to develop a sedan and SUV for VinFast, which aims to be Vietnam's first domestic automaker.
VinFast is targeting production of 500,000 vehicles by 2025.
A factory under construction in Haiphong will eventually build minicars, electric cars and motorbikes, as well as sedans and SUVs, the company says.
Pininfarina's designs were chosen in a competition involving design houses around the world, VinFast said. Nearly 62,000 participants voted on designs that reflected Vietnamese "tastes and demands."
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