Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast debuted on the Nasdaq on Tuesday and witnessed a surge in shares prices. Shares rose to $24 at one point, boosting the market valuation of the EV start-up to $55 billion.
"It's a big milestone for us to be listed in the U.S. The listing is going to open access to the capital markets for us in the future," VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said.
The listing on the Nasdaq came after the successful merger of VinFast with special purpose acquisition company Black Spade Acquisition. The deal with Black Spade valued VinFast at approximately $23 billion.
What is VinFast?
VinFast is part of the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, and it was established in 2017. VinFast was founded by one of Vietnam's richest persons, Pham Nhat Vuong. Pham pledged a massive $2.5 billion in April to bolster VinFast, and as much as $1 billion came from the billionaire's own personal fortune. Pham owns 99 percent of the 2.3 billion ordinary shares of the EV maker.
In the US, VinFast competes with the likes of Tesla and and BYD. Le says the company prices its products competitively. Reuters reported that VinFast had brought in as many as 3,000 units to the US and the deliveries started in March this year. Though the company did not disclose its sales figures, the report said it only sold about 137 vehicles in the US through June, citing data from S&P Global Mobility.
"We always price our products quite competitively compared to other similar products. But when you look deeply into our products, we are loaded with more features and more technology. So I think consumers started recognizing the values that we bring with our products ..We try to stay competitive in every market that we are in in terms of profitability. I think it will come together with the volume. For now, we will stay true to our strategy," Le said, according to CNBC.
It was reported earlier that VinFast is planning to build a $4 billion plant in North Carolina, while it is also committed to increasing shipments from its factory in Vietnam.
