HANOI, July 18 Reuters Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD on Thursday outlined plans to aggressively expand its dealership network in Vietnam as it opens its first stores 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 hopes to boost that number to about 100 by 2026.

An initial three model product lineup that includes the compact crossover Atto 3 will increase to six from October, according to Vo Minh Luc, chief operations officer for BYD Vietnam.

All BYD models for Vietnam will be imported for the time being. Vietnam39;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 optimize the plant plan, Luc said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The Atto 3 will be priced from 766 million dong 30,300, somewhat higher than the 675 million dong starting price for VinFast39;s VF 6.

Like BYD, VinFast no longer makes gasolineengine vehicles. But it has had far less business success than its Chinese rival which has become the world39;s biggest manufacturer of electric cars.

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

HSBC estimated in May report that Vietnam39;s…