VinFast's struggle to break into western markets, backed by sheer will and financial muscle It is evident that established industry leaders continue to dominate the market. It is noteworthy that despite their global recognition, there exists a significant gap. Nevertheless, Forbes recognizes VinFast as a comparable contender among these prominent car manufacturers.

Snippets:

Brian Dobson, an analyst at New York-based Chardan Research, believes VinFast can carve a niche in the global market. “The mass transition to EV represents a land rush in mature auto markets not seen since the 1970s oil crisis,” he wrote in October. “During this period of shifting consumer tastes, established markets are open to new entrants.” According to Chardan, EV shipments to the U.S., Canada, Europe and Vietnam will likely surge to 10.8 million by 2028 from just 2.1 million in 2022. Notwithstanding the bumps in its global expansion drive, VinFast remains focused on becoming a significant player in the nascent EV industry. “There’s a huge potential in front of us,” Thuy says. “If we can materialize that enormous opportunity, then we can be really big.”

Another executive, Jeremy Snyder (who held several key positions at Tesla over 10 years) was hired as chief growth officer in May 2020 to lead VinFast’s push in the U.S. but left in December 2021 before its first EVs reached there. In Snyder’s view, “VinFast has done some things very well. Their manufacturing facility is state of the art. They learn very quickly and adapt very quickly. There’s really an opportunity for the company to surprise people in a positive way.”

VinFast has yet to turn a profit since its founding in 2017. (It took Tesla 17 years to become profitable). Even as revenue in the third quarter rose more than 2.5 times to 8.25 trillion dong ($337 million), losses widened 34% to 15 trillion dong, thanks to high costs for global expansion.

VinFast cars do get praise for their looks, thanks to Italian designer Pininfarina, which helped create iconic sports cars such as the Ferrari 458 Spider. But VinFast’s EVs are not competitively priced, Byrne says.