Vietnam’s Richest Person Aims To Challenge Tesla In North America, Europe

Vinfast—the automotive unit of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong’s VinGroup—is rolling out its latest electric vehicle models across showrooms in North America and Europe by March next year, challenging Tesla globally.

The company said it has been recruiting senior executives from major car manufacturers such as Tesla, BMW, Porsche, Toyota and Nissan in pursuit of its goal of becoming a global smart electric car company.

“With smart electric cars backed by VinFast’s proven research and production capabilities, we are confident that VinFast can be a competitive contender with leading brands in the U.S. today,” said Jeremy Snyder, chief growth officer for Vinfast U.S. Snyder was former head of global business development at Tesla, where he worked in various senior management positions for more than a decade until 2018, according to his LinkedIn.

Vinfast said the company has set up branches across the U.S., Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands in preparation for the global launch of its new electric vehicles. The lineup will be unveiled in October, with two of its smart electric car models VF e35 and VF e36 to be launched for sale globally in March 2022, it said.

The company aimed to sell 56,000 electric vehicles in 2022, but the target was cut to 15,000 units due to the global chip shortage, Reuters had quoted Vingroup chairman Vuong, 52, as saying at the company’s annual meeting last month.

Besides car manufacturing, Vuong has interests in real estate, retail, consumer electronics and healthcare through Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest conglomerate by market value. He was ranked the country’s richest person with a net worth of $7.3 billion, according to the World Billionaires List published in April.