On August 15, local time, VinFast Auto Ltd, a well-known Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer.(hereinafter referred to as "VinFast") landed on NASDAQ, the first day of listing, the stock price has soared, the market value has exceeded Ford and GM.。

VinFast is listed through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).。The company, which started trading at $22 per share, is valued at about $50 billion, more than double the $10 per share (or $23 billion) deal with SPAC partner Black Spade.。Even at its lower valuation, VinFast said it has the highest market capitalization of any Vietnamese company listed in the United States.。As of the last hour of trading, its shares had risen to more than $37 per share, more than 270% higher than SPAC's IPO price, and a market capitalization of more than $85 billion, almost twice that of Ford or General Motors.。

But it's worth noting that regulatory filings show that Vietnam's richest man, VinFast founder Pham Nhat Vuong (Pham Nhat Vuong), controls about 99% of the company, resulting in a very small amount of liquidity in the stock, making it more volatile.。

VinFast's stock market gains have made one wonder, will VinFast be Vietnam's Tesla?？

VinFast is much younger than Tesla, the company was founded in 2017 and has been rooted in the Vietnamese market.。It wasn't until last year that the company "went to sea" for the first time, shipping its first cars to California.。To date, the company has shipped a total of more than 2,000 VF8 vehicles to the United States, which is the only model the company currently sells in the United States.。The company also plans to send its first vehicles to Europe in July.。VinFast said it was preparing to launch three new models as it expanded beyond Vietnam.。

Van Riwang had said in May that VinFast expected to sell up to 50,000 electric vehicles this year, breaking even as soon as the end of 2024.。But by the end of June, the company had delivered nearly 1.90,000 electric cars, almost all in Vietnam。According to S & P Global Mobility, as of June this year, only 137 VF8s were registered in the US.。

But chief financial officer David Mansfield still said this year's rough sales figures were "still on track."。

Even if this target is met, VinFast's sales will be only about one-sixth of the capacity of its Vietnam Haiphong plant.。Last month, VinFast began breaking ground on a North Carolina plant in the United States.。The plant, which will cost $4 billion, is scheduled to begin operations in 2025, a year later than previously planned.。The first phase of operations is designed to produce 150,000 vehicles a year, and the company called the move "an important step toward its global expansion and the development of its North American supply chain."。

In addition to sales a bit "acclimatized," VinFast was also revealed to have vehicle safety issues。

In May of this year, VinFast announced a recall of all the first vehicles previously shipped to the United States.。Because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) previously stated that the dashboard display of VinFast's VF8 vehicle had a software error that prevented critical safety information from being displayed, NHTSA believes this may increase the risk of a crash。VinFast said in a statement that the company conducted a voluntary safety recall of the VF8, acknowledging that the dashboard screen will become blank when the car is driving or stationary。

In February, VinFast recalled nearly 2,800 VF8s sold in Vietnam because of problems with the front brakes of some vehicles.。

However, Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers have also experienced technical failures at the beginning, which is not just a problem with VinFast。For VinFast, the fatal point is its pricing.。

Recently, the North American electric car "overlord" Tesla has been under constant pressure, and Tesla has launched lower-priced Model S and Model X versions in the United States.。Tesla Model Y is nearly $7,000 cheaper than VinFast's VF8 after accounting for U.S. federal subsidies。VinFast does not have an advantage in price, which is an important reason why it is difficult to open the US market。

In response, VinFast CEO Le Thi Tsinghua Thuy said that VinFast's product pricing is competitive, but efforts are being made to reduce prices.。"No automaker in the world has a cost base as low as Vietnam.。"All of this will lead to lower costs in the future."。"

For future sales, Li said VinFast would move to a new "hybrid model" of sales, bringing in distributors and resellers for overseas markets.。

Since announcing overseas expansion plans, VinFast has been hoping to open only its own direct stores like Tesla's。"It's great to open our own shop, but it takes a lot of time," says Li, "and it's always been our nature to join forces with other partners to go faster.。"

VinFast said it opened 122 showrooms worldwide as of June, mostly on the U.S. West Coast.。

For now, VinFast is still losing money。VinFast Q1 Revenue Down 49% YoY, Net Loss 5.$9.8 billion。In 2022, the company lost $2.1 billion.。Mansfield, chief financial officer, said in an interview that VinFast was in talks with investors, including sovereign wealth funds, and could raise more money in the next 18 months.。

Electric vehicles, as a representative industry of energy transformation in recent years, have always been hot in the stock market. For many investors, once a new electric vehicle is listed, they are willing to pursue it because they are afraid of missing the next "Tesla."。

In this context, VinFast is not the first "go-to-market" electric car manufacturer.。In 2021, the listed share price of Lucid, a local U.S. car company, also soared, with a market capitalization of more than $90 billion at one point.。But with production and sales "getting worse every year," the stock has experienced multiple swings and is currently valued at less than $15 billion.。

At present, VinFast is still a young car company, its competitive advantage has not been fully demonstrated, the subsequent development trend is still unknown.。Will VinFast be Vietnam's Tesla or Vietnam's Lucid, it all remains to be tested。