BYD on Thursday outlined plans to aggressively expand its dealership network in Vietnam as it opens its first dealerships in the country this week, posing a formidable challenge to local rival VinFast.

Thirteen BYD dealerships will open their doors to the Vietnamese public on Saturday and the automaker hoped to boost that number to about 100 by 2026, Reuters reported.

An initial three model line including the compact Atto 3 crossover would increase to six from October, according to Vo Minh Luc, chief operations officer for BYD Vietnam.

All BYD models for Vietnam would be imported for now. Vietnam's government said last year BYD had decided to build a factory to manufacture electric cars in the north of the country but those plans have slowed, the company that operates the industrial park in the area said in March.

"BYD is in talks with a number of localities in Vietnam to optimise the plant plan," Luc said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

The Atto 3 would be priced from 766m dong (US$30,300), somewhat higher than the 675m dong starting price for VinFast's VF 6.

VinFast sold 32,000 EVs in Vietnam last year but most of the vehicles were sold to an affiliate, Reuters noted.