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VinFast delivers 97,000 EVs in 2024, beats revised-down

target

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Most sales were in Q4 of 2024, plans to double sales this

year

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Only about 10% of total sales were outside Vietnam

By Phuong Nguyen

HANOI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Vietnamese electric vehicle

maker VinFast said on Thursday it delivered about 97,000

cars last year, nearly three times as many as in 2023, but sales

were almost exclusively in its domestic market.

The company said it planned to at least double global sales

this year, buoyed by a large increase in deliveries in the last

quarter of 2024, when it sold more than 53,000 cars, more than

half its total annual sales.

The 2024 deliveries exceeded a revised-down sales target of

80,000 units. VinFast had initially planned to sell 100,000 cars

last year.

"VinFast's 2024 results exceeded expectations, demonstrating

resilience in the face of market fluctuations and macroeconomic

volatility," said VinFast Chairwoman Thuy Le.

The startup is pursuing an aggressive but costly expansion

strategy in Vietnam, where it can rely on a growing market of

nearly 100 million people. In the last quarter, sales were also

boosted by the introduction of a much cheaper and smaller

model.

However, the company lost nearly $2 billion in the first

three quarters of last year, latest available data show, after

posting $2.4 billion in losses in 2023. That is putting pressure

on its parent company, Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup

.

The carmaker also wants to expand abroad but has so far

struggled to attract foreign buyers.

In a previous statement in January, VinFast said it had sold

more than 87,000 units in Vietnam last year. Barring a revision

of its own figures, that would mean only about 10,000 cars were

sold abroad, around 10% of total sales.

Last year the company postponed plans for a factory in the

United States, in what appeared as a shift to Asian markets, and

in particular to India and Indonesia, where it plans to

establish two assembly factories.

VinFast did not provide a breakdown of sales by market.

Most of its sales in Vietnam in 2023 were to companies

linked to its owner Pham Nhat Vuong, including electric taxi

operator Green SM, or GSM, which in the last quarter of 2024

overtook Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab as the

top taxi company in Vietnam, according to research firm Mordor

Intelligence.

A full breakdown of domestic buyers for last year is not

available, but in the third quarter about 20% of total

deliveries went to VinFast's related parties, according to its

quarterly earnings.

The company is expected to release full-year results on

April 24.