The founder of VinFast has no immediate plans to invest more money into the company. This comes despite the company losing billions of dollars and falling behind in its plans for a factory in the United States.
The man behind the Vingroup conglomerate, Pham Nhat Vuong, has a net worth of around $4.1 billion and while recently speaking with Bloomberg News, VinFast chief executive Le Thi Thu Thuy said he won’t provide further personal investments into the firm and that it has the funds needed to continue normal operations.
VinFast is planning an initial public offering in the United States and in a filing issued in December, revealed that it had lost $1.3 billion in 2021 and close to $1.5 billion in the nine months through September 30. It expects to continue to incur operating and net losses in the near term.
“Vingroup has the ability and will continue to provide financial support sufficient to meet our needs for continued operation,” the filing added. However, the conglomerate noted that VinFast will “require significant additional capital” and will raise funds through related-party financing as well as debt and equity financing.
The Vietnamese car manufacturer planned to start construction of a $4 billion electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in North America in September but work has yet to start. According to Thuy, the company has “basically completed the site clearance” and that it is “finalizing the permits so construction can commence.” Trial production at the factory is still expected to start in 2024.
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Current plans call for the company to be producing 1.1 million vehicles annually by 2026 but it still has a long way to go before it hits the target. In fact, in the three months through December 31, it delivered just over 4,900 vehicles.
“In the short term, we cannot reveal specific numbers, but VinFast has delivered thousands of EVs and has nearly 70,000 reservations to be produced and delivered to customers as soon as possible,” Thuy said. “In addition, we have also accepted deposits for VF5 and will soon open reservations for VF6 and VF7 globally with the expected delivery date starting from the end of 2023.”
