Vietnamese electric car maker VinFast has told Blomberg that it will delay its Thailand expansion plans on the back of a slowdown in car sales in the Thai market. This comes after the company announced just a few months ago that it had signed letters of intent with 15 Thai dealerships looking to establish 22 showrooms in the country.
Of note, VinFast’s expansion outside of Vietnam has been rife with big announcements that have failed to materialise. Most recently, a factory in North Carolina announced back in 2022 was put on ice this year after the company failed to meet sales targets in the North American market.
This fits with a largely rocky market entry in the US, at least partly due to the vastly different auto-market dynamics in Vietnam versus in the United States.
See: Vietnam’s Automotive Industry: Foreign Investor’s Guide 2024