VinFast has gone public in the United States under the ticker ‘VFS’ and while the Vietnamese car manufacturer has faced a lot of challenges and criticisms since launching locally, its market cap soared to almost exceed those of Ford and GM combined.
The carmaker went public through a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Black Spade Acquisition Co with a $10 stock price, giving the company an agreed value of $23 billion. However, the stock ended up opening at $22 and continued to rise throughout the day and closed the session at an eye-popping $37.06.
Current rates give VinFast a market value of over $85 billion. To put that into perspective, Ford has a market value of $48 billion while GM has a market value of $46 billion. This is despite VinFast still being years away from delivering a profit and comes despite it having just exported 3,000 vehicles to North America since late last year.
Read: VinFast Breaks Ground On U.S. Factory, Set To Begin Production In 2025
The brand’s two models, the VF 8 and VF 9, have been criticized heavily by many pundits and journalists and Kelley Blue Book believes the brand has only sold 850 vehicles this year in the United States. VinFast had been selling its vehicles through a direct-to-consumer approach like Tesla but chief executive Le Thi Thu Thuy recently revealed the company is switching to a hybrid approach where it will have its own showrooms and also allow direct sales.
It’s not uncommon for the stock of newly-listed EV manufacturers to perform well. In late 2021, the market value of Rivian soared to over $150 billion just a week after its IPO but has since dropped to around $20 billion.
Local investors have likely been encouraged by VinFast’s commitment to the United States. In July, it broke ground on a $2 billion factory in Chatham County, North Carolina that will build the electric VF 7, VF 8, and VF 9. Phase 1 of the plant will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 units.
