BETWEEN today and December 22, the first shipment of nearly a thousand Vinfast VF8 and VF9 electric vehicles is landing in California, USA to be delivered to customers who made reservations as early as August this year. This information was relayed by Anh Nguyen, CEO of VinFast US Manufacturing to Malaya Business Insight.
Vinfast, through a press statement, said that early this December, Vinfast Trading & Investment Pte. Ltd. announced that it has publicly filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its ordinary shares.
“The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined but the company intends to list its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “VFS,” Vinfast said but clarified that though a registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC, it has not yet become effective.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will act as lead book-running managers and as representatives of the underwriters for the proposed offering. BNP Paribas Securities Corp., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Nomura Securities International, Inc., WR Securities, LLC and RBC Capital Markets, LLC will also be book-running managers. Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated will act as co-manager for the proposed offering.
“Too early,” says some automotive industry analysts in the U.S. saying that there is still a lot to be proven by the brand once it lands in the US. Vinfast officials are bullish though. They expect that because of the multi-faceted engineering and testing approaches applied to their export model EVs as well as the ongoing construction of the Vinfast US manufacturing plant, getting the confidence of the US car buyers will help push their stock exchange ambitions. Currently, large fleet purchases have been made towards the third quarter of 2022 and over 5,000 paid reservations have been made by US customers.
Vinfast, Vietnam’s first automobile maker has made strides where the Chinese brands are struggling or failed. Chinese brands trying to penetrate the US market, like Chery (cloaked as Vantas), FAW, Foton, Geely (known for its buy-out of Volvo and once marketed as Lynk & Co.) SAIC (makers of MG) have been met with continuous mistrust, propelled mostly by bad press. The one that has established itself–BYD–is strong in the battery and commercial vehicle segment. Vinfast is the first car brand from Southeast Asia to have made a significant entry into the mainland United States and will be the first one to produce EVs on US soil.
The company deliberately picked California, a state known for the world’s toughest emissions and safety standards to come into the country. It has so far passed every rigorous test including ASEAN NCAP test and may receive a 5-Star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) because of the long list of safety features in both the VF8 and VF9.
Jumping from start-up to maker was quick for VinFast. The company was established only in 2017 and by 2019 it had produced and sold its first internal combustion engine vehicle, based on BMW chassis and powertrains. Developing its electric vehicles took a different track with Vinfast engineers working with design houses like Pininfarina and creating its own batteries and powertrain systems.
Vinfast has always made it known that it has lofty goals. Combining the capabilities of its plant in Hai Phong, Vietnam and in North Carolina in the US, it plans to manufacture around one million electric cars within the next five to six years. Despite the huge investments being poured out by the company, Vinfast Chief Financial Officer David Mansfield told the media at a September press conference that it plans to be profitable within the next three years after the cars are delivered and manufacturing is in full operation. Since it started to sell cars in 2019, it has manufactured and sold an estimated total of 35,000 cars until the end of 2021.
However, it is the company’s unique battery subscription service that is expected to bring in customers. Battery subscription not only lowers the price of the vehicle at purchase time, but it also transfers the burden of battery ownership and maintenance to Vinfast, rather than to the buyer.
Currently, the VF8 is expected to be sold at US$40,700 with a monthly battery subscription. It has a range of 470 kilometers (292 miles). The VF9 has an estimated range of nearly 600 kilometers (369 miles) on one charge and is expected to be sold at US$55,500 with a battery subscription. Comparatively, the cheapest equivalent Tesla SUV, the Model S starts at about $105,000. — with Raymond B. Tribdino
