- Hazar Denli worked for Tata Technologies, a consulting firm that did much of the chassis engineering work on Vinfast's VF6, VF7, VF8 and VF9 models.
- Denli claims he was fired and blacklisted after posting Reddit thread expressing serious safety concerns about VinFast's products.
- Denli claimed that VinFast's suspension components were inadequate and prone to failure.
It’s an accepted fact that VinFast’s cars aren’t very good. The brand has been plagued with missed delivery dates, poor reviews, low sales and an alarming allegation that it has police detain critics of its products in its home country. Now things are going further. Last week, an engineer responsible for VinFast’s latest models claimed he was fired after an ask me anything thread on Reddit. The engineer, Hazar Denli, became really concerned about the quality of the suspension components on its models.
According to reporting from the BBC, Denli became concerned with VinFast’s approach to speed and deadlines, insisting that the brand was cutting corners with its product, particularly with development on the VF6 and VF7 crossovers that have been slowly making their way out of Vietnam, and into new markets. For instance, Denli said that parts wore out five times as quickly during validation testing as they should have; some parts only lasted as little at 15,000 miles when they should have gone for 95,000 miles. Troublingly, Denli said this premature wear could lead to a loss of control of the vehicles.
"We saw, for example, the front strut-to-knuckle connection was loosening, which could be extremely dangerous," Denli told the BBC. "It could cause a loosening of the entire structure that could cause wheels to come off.
Denli says that JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) conspired with its parent group Tata Group, alongside VinFast, who figured out who made the Reddit thread. When Denli was identified, he was subsequently terminated and his name was blacklisted in an industry recruiting software, the BBC says. Keep in mind that VinFast’s IPO paperwork revealed that Tata Technologies (part of Tata Group) did much of the chassis engineering for all of VinFast’s models, except for the VF3 and VF5.
This is very concerning, and adds onto existing problems for the automaker. An accident involving a VinFast VF8 is already under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On, April 24, 2024 a VF8 struck a tree, and caught fire, killing the family of four inside. Denli’s claims track with the previous reporting we’ve done at InsideEVs. Earlier this year, we reported on Sonnie Tran, a Vietnamese blogger who was critical of Vinfast’s products in his home country. Tran alleged that VinFast used the police to harass him, even arresting him and threatening jail time if he didn’t take his criticism down.
Right now, VinFast has delivered on its promise to produce the VF3 through VF9, at least in Vietnam. All of these models are on sale, and the brand plans to export them to new markets. Just a few weeks ago one of the alleged vehicles of concern, the VinFast VF6, was officially put on sale in a handful European countries. VinFast still plans to sell these cars in the U.S. by 2026.
We will be watching with interest and concern as to how this will play out. The Vinfast VF8 has 28 complaints according to the NHTSA. Denli is trying to hold JLR to an employment tribunal, claiming he had done nothing wrong.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com.
