VinFast CEO Pham Nhat Vuong has announced that a new company has been established in Vietnam, in which he holds a 90 percent stake, to buy, sell, and lease electric vehicles. The company, FGF Trading and Services, in which FGF stands for For Green Future, has been established ostensibly to run a second hand market for electric vehicles. It does, however, reportedly intend to put up to 2,000 rental cars on the streets of Vietnam, according to VN Express. 

Of note, FGF will sit beside Vuong’s electric car ride hailing firm Xanh GSM. Xanh GSM has accounted for the lion’s share of electric car purchases from VinFast. However, many of these, it was reported in April, were languishing in a field north of Hanoi with the supply far outstripping demand. With this in mind, FGF could have a major client right off the bat.

That said, Vietnam’s car market has not been performing particularly well of late. Car sales were down 7 percent year on year at the end of May, according to the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association. This is, at least in part, due to a broader economic downturn with consumers tightening their belts rather than splurging on big ticket items like cars.

See also: Vietnam’s Automotive Industry 2024: Foreign Investor Cheat Sheet

Edited: 02/07:  Changed ‘self-driving cars’ to ‘rental cars’ and removed the phrase. ‘It’s not clear where the self-driving technology will come from’.