VinFast’s Promising Performance Encourages It To Set Up New Plants in Indonesia & India

Based on the results of its unaudited financial report for the 3rd quarter of 2023, Vietnamese car maker VinFast’s revenue is up 159% to $343 million year-over-year. The increase in revenue was driven by strong sales of the company’s electric vehicles (EVs) in Vietnam.

Its performance gives it the confidence to expect to receive up to VND29,000 billion (US$1.2 billion) more in grants from parent company Vingroup. It may also get capital infusions from VinFast Chairman Phạm Nhật Vượng and two key shareholders in the next six months.

A well-placed source at VinFast told CleanTechnica that EV deliveries hit 10,027 units in the third quarter of 2023, up 5.2% from the second quarter of 2023. This strong financial showing has encouraged the company to pursue the establishment of VinFast facilities in Asia.

The company has optimized its capital expenditure plan for global manufacturing in 2024 and 2025, and is expected to save approximately US$400 million, compared to earlier forecasts. These savings can then be used towards building completely-knocked-down car assembly factories in Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, and India, the third largest auto market in the world. They can then benefit from access to government incentives for local manufacturing, relief from certain tariffs and taxes, and access to raw materials at attractive rates.

Combined, the CKD facilities in the two selected countries have a planned total capacity of up to 50,000 cars per year and an estimated total capital expenditure of US$150 million to US$200 million in its first phase. Production is expected to commence by 2026.

One of the points raised during VinFast’s Nasdaq debut was the establishment of broad distribution channels, leveraging local networks and the expertise of third-party dealerships and distribution to increase coverage in our expanding list of target markets.

In the U.S., this approach is intended to provide increased consumer access to substantially more states, as compared to a direct-to-customer model. Through the end of September 30, 2023, VinFast has received Applications/Letters of Intent (LOIs) from 27 dealers with more than 100 open points across 12 states in the U.S, including Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Arkansas, among others.

“We started to see a sales increase in September in North America, particularly in Canada. We aim for our vehicles to be present in up to 50 global markets and countries by the end of 2024,” our source said.

“We started delivering in Canada and saw encouraging sales in September. We expect to see greater sales contribution from international markets from 2024 as we enter new markets and expand our distribution network through 3rd party dealerships and distribution,” our source replied.

When asked what the total sales for EVs were globally, our source simply said that VinFast has not yet announced the breakdown of sales pending audit.

“The majority of our sales and deliveries in 2023 continue to be domestic as we’re still at the initial stage of our global roll-out. The VF e34 — our first launch continues to be the leading model. VF 5 deliveries were 3.7 times QoQ,” was the reply of our source.

Based on the financial information submitted to the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) VinFast’s expenses for the third quarter of 2023 were $623 million, up 175% year-over-year. The increase in expenses was driven by higher costs of goods sold (COGS), research and development (R&D), and selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses. COGS increased by 190% year-over-year due to the increase in EV sales. R&D expenses increased by 180% year-over-year as VinFast continues to invest in new EV technologies. SG&A expenses increased by 160% year-over-year due to the expansion of VinFast’s sales and marketing operations.

VinFast’s net loss for the third quarter of 2023 was $280 million, up 33.7% year-over-year. The increase in net loss was due to the increase in expenses, which offset the increase in revenue. The balance sheet as of September 30, 2023 showed that the company had cash and cash equivalents of $2.5 billion and total assets of $5.3 billion. VinFast’s total liabilities were $2.8 billion, resulting in net equity of $2.5 billion.

However, its cash flow statement for the third quarter of 2023 showed robust performance. The company generated $100 million from operating activities, $200 million from investing activities, and $500 million from financing activities. Its net cash flow for the third quarter of 2023 was $800 million.