Vingroup has invested VND13.6 trillion ($583.3 million) in its auto subsidiary VinFast in the first nine months of the year. VinFast, Vietnam’s first indigenous car manufacturer, is expected to eventually receive investments of $4.2 billion from the parent firm’s internal resources and loans.
VinFast has already unveiled its first two cars, a sedan and an SUV, causing both excitement and skepticism among Vietnamese.
From a standing start, it will create an annual capacity of 250,000 cars within the next five years or so, equivalent to 92 percent of all cars sold in Vietnam last year, according to data from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association.
VinFast will also produce 250,000 electric scooters a year in an ambitious production target that is set to eventually increase to 1 million.
In the first three quarters of this year Vingroup recorded over VND23.456 trillion ($1.01 billion) in net revenues, a nearly 7 percent rise year-on-year. Profit before tax topped VND2.6 trillion ($111.52 million), up 41 percent.
As of September 30 it had total assets of VND268.23 trillion ($11.5 billion), an increase of nearly VND55 trillion ($2.35 billion) from the beginning of this year.
Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest property conglomerate, dominates the housing and property markets with Vinhomes. It has entered the healthcare market with Vinmec, runs a chain of supermarkets called Vinmart, and entertains tourists at Vinpearl resorts.
