VinFast: Struggles and Aspirations of the Vietnamese Electric Car Manufacturer
2023-10-22 06:13:44 Hanoi (AFP) – IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, showroom in Paris… The Vietnamese car manufacturer VinFast dreams of becoming a world leader in electric cars but is struggling to attract local customers. Launched in 2017, VinFast is still looking for a place in a booming market, despite the strength of the ... Read more VinFast, the Vietnamese electric car manufacturer, is struggling to attract local customers despite its success in the electric vehicle market. Launched in 2017, the company is still looking for a growing market despite being owned by VinGroup, the largest in the country. Only 7,400 customers are concerned about the brand's reliability, construction defects, software bugs, and underdeveloped charging stations. Since the start of the year, the brand has sold 21,000 units worldwide, far from its target of 50,000 for the whole year. However, its main customer, a taxi company owned by Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, is a customer of VinGroup. The brand's value fluctuates by around seven dollars from its record-breaking 82 dollars at the end of August. Despite the success of VinFast in the global market, it remains loss-making due to poor performance and poor publicity. The company announced $623 million in losses in the third quarter of 2023, with 11,000 vehicles sold from January to June.
公開済み : 2年前 沿って archyde の Auto
Hanoi (AFP) – IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, showroom in Paris… The Vietnamese car manufacturer VinFast dreams of becoming a world leader in electric cars but is struggling to attract local customers.
Launched in 2017, VinFast is still looking for a place in a booming market, despite the strength of the conglomerate to which it belongs, VinGroup, the largest in the country.
Vietnam recorded around 280,000 new registrations in 2022, according to data from the International Organization of Automobile Manufacturers (OICA).
Only 7,400 concern the VinFast brand, or less than 3%. A drop in the ocean on the scale of Vietnam, 100 million inhabitants, whose sustained growth fuels opportunities for businesses.
The manufacturer recorded progress in 2023, with 11,000 vehicles sold from January to June… but its main customer, who bought half of them, is a taxi company belonging to VinGroup.
Since the start of the year, the brand has sold 21,000 units worldwide, far from its target of 50,000 for the whole year.
Those who have taken the plunge complain about the lack of reliability of certain models: construction defects, software bugs, etc. Bad publicity for the brand, already challenged by the underdeveloped network of charging stations.
VinFast assured in a press release that after “several software updates and improvements, (its) vehicles were working well. »
“I don’t want to spend my money on an imperfect product,” said Ngo Trong Tu, 31, a businessman from Hanoi, who preferred to spend $5,000 more on a Japanese gasoline car, rather than a VinFast. .
You should not expect a perfect product just after its launch, VinFast executive director Le Thi Thu Thuy told AFP.
“There are a lot of hopes and expectations for us to be better,” she assured.
VinFast is the international flagship of VinGroup, owned by Vietnam’s richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, whose fortune is estimated at five billion dollars by Forbes.
The businessman spotted the potential of the electric vehicle market, in a context of energy transition which encourages the abandonment of thermal engines.
Despite the multiplication of points of sale in Europe and the United States, and development projects in India, Indonesia and the Middle East, its bet remains loss-making for the moment. VinFast announced $623 million in losses in the third quarter of 2023.
The doubts surrounding the brand are reflected in its listing on Wall Street which, since its introduction to the Nasdaq last August, has gone through a roller coaster period.
The value of the title fluctuates today around seven dollars, far from the record reached at 82 dollars at the end of August. The market valuation of VinFast was then higher than that of the giants Ford and General Motors.
“For now, these losses can be borne because VinGroup has deep pockets, but this cannot last forever,” says James Guild, a Southeast Asia trade specialist based in Singapore.
“The company seems to be producing more cars than the market can absorb,” he adds. “It needs a viable financial and operational plan for the next few years, and right now it’s hard to see what that is.” »
VinGroup has pioneered Vietnam’s electric vehicle infrastructure: the conglomerate has launched buses, taxis, electric scooters and charging stations in recent years.
But a Vietnamese automotive expert, who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisals from the powerful group, noted that “VinFast had not earned our trust.”
“Users cannot buy such an expensive car based solely on national pride,” he said.
Tran Lien Phuong, director of market research and consulting firm AMCO in Ho Chi Minh City, observed that although the communist government encouraged consumers to buy Vietnamese products, consumers tended to trust them more. to foreign brands.
“The competition will certainly be long and difficult for VinGroup. Anyone entering this type of market needs time,” Mr. Tran emphasized.
トピック: Green Energy, Electric Vehicles, Vietnamese