Vietnam carmaker VinFast sees path to making profit: billionaire founder

VinFast founder Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam’s richest man, said Wednesday that the Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer can see its road to a breakeven point and making profit.

“I believe that VinFast would bring happiness to everyone,” the billionaire – chairman of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup – told investors at Vingroup’s annual general meeting in Hanoi.

The AGM came just a few days after VinFast, dubbed Vietnam’s Tesla, announced it will list in the U.S. via a merger with Black Spade Acquisition Co (BSAQ), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). After the merger, the new entity will have an enterprise value of approximately $27 billion and an equity value of $23 billion, the two companies said in a release.

In late April this year, VinFast had announced Vuong and Vingroup intend to contribute $1 billion and $500 million, respectively, to VinFast by way of non-refundable grants. The carmaker is part of Vingroup.

Vuong told Wednesday’s AGM that VinFast’s corporate value would be higher as the whole world’s EV trend is very strong.

“VinFast would then reach a breakeven point and then continue to profit. It will take years, not weeks or months.”

In terms of products, he said VinFast planned to add two other models to its lineup – an electric pickup truck and a battery-powered city or "mini car."

“We’ll introduce the products in the next few weeks, thus giving ourselves a full product lineup.”

VinFast’s second batch of VF 8s arrived in California last week. They have a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-certificated range of 264 miles for the Eco trim and 243 miles for the Plus trim per full charge. The producer expects to begin deliveries of these electric SUVs to U.S. customers this June.

Vingroup told its AGM that it would this year issue convertible bonds worth a maximum of VND5 trillion (more than $213 million) in one or several offerings.

The meeting approved Vingroup’s target of VND 190 trillion (over $8.1 billion) for this year’s net revenue, an increase of 87% compared to last year. If achieved, this will be the highest revenue milestone in the group's history. Its 2023 after-tax profit target is VND2 trillion ($85.27 million).