The company says it will make an initial public offering to raise about $US3 billion ($A4.3b). This will value it at around $US60 billion ($A85.2b). It then intends to list on the US stock market late next year.

If the listing is successful, VinFast will become the first Vietnamese enterprise to have shares traded on the world’s largest stock exchange. 

It will also cement plans to drive up sales to 42,000 units in 2022, up from a 15,000-unit prediction made earlier this year.

Reuters in the US reported last month that the company is in talks with investors including Qatar’s sovereign fund and BlackRock – the New York investment firm headed by Larry Fink – to raise equity.

In preparation, VinFast parent and Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup has shuffled the car-maker’s business headquarters to Singapore and opened a US base in Playa Vista, dubbed the “Silicon Beach” of Los Angeles.

In a statement, VinFast said that aside from the US market, it also opened branches in Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

VF e35

Last month it signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with France’s leading electricity group Électricité de France (EDF) to implement the installation and operation of a network of public charging stations and other related services in France. 

Vehicle production is based in Hai Phong, Vietnam, and a former GM Vietnam factory in Hanoi. 

It established an engineering presence in Melbourne in mid-2020 and then bought for $35 million the ex-Holden proving ground at Lang Lang. In October this year, it closed the engineering facility and put Lang Lang on the market.

VinFast last month launched two electric car models – VF e35 and VF e36 – at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show. These complement the company’s existing electric scooters.

The company was Vietnam’s first domestic car-maker when it launched petrol-fuelled models based on previous-generation BMW models in 2019.

Now it plans to build EVs only with the VF-series planned for markets including the US, Russia, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, France, and the Netherlands. Australia is in the wings but has no date mentioned.

As part of VinFast’s accelerating global plans, in July this year it appointed the former Volkswagen of America executive and Opel CEO, Michael Lohscheller as its head of overseas operations.

VinFast factory, Hai Phong City, Vietnam

By Neil Dowling