On Vietnam’s 80th National Day, the country did more than march. It showed how far its car industry has come. VinFast rolled out two very different machines that told the same story of rising capability, from an armored state car to open-top parade SUVs.
Inside the new Vietnam Exposition Center in Hanoi, a steel-plated Lac Hong 900 LX sat under bright lights with its scars visible. The bodywork bore marks from bullets and blasts, proof of what it had endured before this public debut. The display tied into an exhibition that looks back to the August Revolution of 1945 and the founding of the modern republic, and it also pointed to what Vietnam can build today.
A few streets away, a second scene unfolded. Open-top VinFast VF 9s, built for ceremonial use, moved across the parade grounds as military and police units rehearsed for the program. The armored car and the open-top EVs did not share a stage, yet together they sent a clear message. One company can now handle needs that stretch from head-of-state protection to public ceremony. As analyst Đinh Văn Nam put it, Vietnam now stands alongside the limited number of countries that produce cars under their own brands.
The armored sedan’s technical credentials begin with testing that most vehicles will never face. According to the company, the Lac Hong 900 LX took 440 live rounds and 11 explosive charges during independent trials at Germany’s Beschussamt Ulm. It achieved the European VPAM VR7 rating used for head-of-state vehicles, a first for a car built in Vietnam. VinFast developed the model with Canadian armored-vehicle specialist INKAS, then finished assembly at its Hai Phong plant.
Designers made sure the car still reads Vietnamese. The gold Lac bird badge references a mythic national symbol. The grille borrows the look of bamboo, a long-standing sign of resilience. Inside, there are wood and leather choices like Golden Nanmu and Nappa. The wheelbase also grew by about 20 centimeters versus the VF 9, a change that sounds simple but adds complexity on the factory floor, noted WhatCarVN’s Nguyen Manh Thang.
If the armored car shows durability, the parade vehicles show speed of adaptation. At the request of the Ministry of Public Security, VinFast completed four open-top VF 9s for the anniversary event. Engineers removed the B, C and D pillars, separated the roof from the A pillar, refreshed the grille and paint, re-trimmed the cabin, and reworked the electricals. The tally came to nearly 2,400 labor hours for the quartet.
The company also delivered 12 VF 9s in white for the Traffic Police, each with a revised hood and grille plus the usual patrol gear, from badge mounts to lights and sirens. VinFast estimates 60 to 80 hours of work per unit to meet the standards for both ceremonial and daily duty. These changes are not flashy, but they are the kind that matter to agencies that buy in fleets and expect reliability. Meeting those benchmarks at home could help the brand make a case for similar contracts abroad.
There were no big speeches from VinFast at A80, and that matched the tone of the day. The vehicles did the talking. An armored sedan with the right certification. EVs cut down on an exact protocol. Local symbols built into a modern shell. Put together, it suggests Vietnam now has a foothold in a tougher part of the auto world, where high standards and quick customization meet. It is a steady step, not a victory lap, and that makes it feel real.