VinFast CES success spurs Aussie design house

FRESH from witnessing VinFast’s show-stopping debut of the VF Wild electric ute concept at CES in Las Vegas alongside the Vietnamese car-maker’s production-ready VF 3 compact SUV, the Melbourne-based team responsible for their designs is ready to reaffirm the depth of Australia’s automotive paper-to-production talent pool.

Both CES debutantes were penned by GoMotiv, a small design house from Abbotsford that has brought together some of the finest local talent from Ford, Holden and Toyota, as well as internationally-sourced staff from Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren.

Established just over two years ago, GoMotiv was formed within design and engineering consultancy firm, Outer Space Design, and is directed by former head of operations for General Motors’ Advanced Design Studio and GM Holden designer, Robert Thorpe.

In addition to the VF Wild, the GoMotiv team was responsible for the creation of the theme for the original VF 7 concept for VinFast back in 2021. In both instances, designer Jae Hoon Lee created the exterior and Paul Dunn the interior. The original project is one Mr Thorpe says helped foster a trust in the studio that continues to this day. 

“We started working on this project (GoMotiv) at the end of 2020 / start of 2021 with the idea of becoming an independent design studio based in Australia, and we’ve really flown under the radar for most of that time,” Mr Thorpe told GoAuto from Las Vegas.

“Part of that was intentional. We didn’t want to come out saying ‘we do car designs’ when we hadn’t yet completed anything other than our work at GM and Ford in our prior roles.

“We wanted to wait until we had a fully completed project that would give us something to talk about – and the Wild concept car is really the first one.”

On the back of VinFast’s successful CES exhibit – the vehicles themselves resulting from many months of toil on the part of Mr Thorpe and his colleagues, a lot of which went into getting the gig in the first place – he said the GoMotiv team hopes to continue attracting the attention of international manufacturers, rebuilding a portion of Australia’s industry that once stood proud in a global market.

“There is absolutely no reason that Australia shouldn’t be competing globally for full vehicle concept and production work given the depth of talent that is here in Australia,” he enthused.

“We were always concerned that when the Holden and Ford or other studios downsized that ‘that would be it’ for Australia. We saw that there was a real opportunity to produce these designs, and to put them out there on the world stage.”

Mr Thorpe told GoAuto that the numerous projects GoMotiv has produced for VinFast is proof positive of the talent of Aussie designers, something the Vietnamese manufacturer recognised from the get-go.

“We have been working with VinFast since early 2021. We started out producing some smaller projects with them – sketch concept work and things like that – and at that time we were just really pleased to have the opportunity to produce some 2D concept work for them,” he explained.

“That went really well. Justin Thompson and I had pulled it together with a handful of designers and got cranking on the first job. That went really well. We were then invited to tender on another concept that ended up turning into the VF 7 program.

“We weren’t successful on that occasion, but once we got a foot in the door, we knew we could make a go of it.”

The level of involvement Australian designers had in the overall process of getting a car from paper to the production floor was something Mr Thorpe believes is unique to GoMotiv, showing a breadth of understanding not always found in other studios.

“All of the people working at GoMotiv are industry veterans. We have a lot of connections, and we know how programs work, and how they should run; and that gives us a lot to draw on,” he said proudly of his 23 staff.

“There is a genuine level of passion among Australian designers – and that rings true regardless of whether they’ve come through the ranks at Ford, Toyota or Holden.

“The other thing is, that they have known all the engineers they have worked with, all the manufacturing team, and all the purchasing team and finance people controlling costs.

“That gives design personnel from Australia a really thorough understanding of how to make great designs with lots of constraints – and being able to do that makes someone very practical in terms of being able to deliver a vision, knowing that it is going to stand up to scrutiny.”

Mr Thorpe said the design of VF Wild took more than 8000 work hours to create. It draws inspiration from the ‘flowing motion of a superhero’s cape’ that will form a key element of a design language to be known as Fluid Dynamism.

As to whether the VF Wild would stand up to the scrutiny necessary to see it greenlit for production, Mr Thorpe said he was cautiously optimistic.

“At the moment it’s a show car, and for VinFast it’s about building their brand and pushing their design language forward,” he detailed.

“VinFast has a vision and they are going for it. It is really exciting for us to be working with them.

“I can’t really talk too much about a production program at the moment, but the GoMotiv team that is working on these programs have all worked on show cars and we have all worked on production cars, and our aim is always to make the production car as close to the show car as possible.”

It is a point clearly illustrated in the VF 3 SUV which shared the Las Vegas stage with the VF Wild utility. Mr Thorpe said that model adhered closely to the original plans and made it through to the production stage with few alterations.

“The VF 3 project came out of our studio as well. That was something we designed from a blank sheet, through to a concept being chosen, and to the car you see on the stand – which has passed all its production releases,” he explained.

“So, it’s really close to the initial show model, and it proves what VinFast is capable of doing with the designs we create.

“We have a really good working relationship with VinFast and we really enjoy working with them. They have such a big vision and from our perspective, that gives us a lot of space to work within. They’ve been really adventurous with what they’re choosing.”

The GoMotiv story is one that is only beginning to find its feet but shows what many of us have known all along. Australian automotive designers and engineers are truly world-class and have the ability to take on established – and far wealthier – design houses at their own game and come up trumps.

“We are so excited. It has been a long road to get here, and to be honest it has been really very hard – there’s a reason no one has done it before. But it is really encouraging now, and the positive feedback we’re receiving is great,” said Mr Thorpe.

“We’re really hopeful we can keep growing and that the work continues to provide opportunities for designers and engineers here in Australia.”