Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong’s Vingroup To Invest $2.1 Billion In Indonesia EV Factory, Taxi Venture
VinFast—controlled by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong’s Vingroup—is investing $2.1 billion over the next few years to build an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Indonesia and roll out a taxi service in Southeast Asia’s most populous country.
Its unit Green and Smart Mobility (GSM)—which runs an all-electric taxi service in Vietnam and plans to expand the service into Cambodia, Laos and even the U.S.—is seeking to obtain necessary licenses from the Indonesian government to start the service, Vingroup said in reply to Forbes Asia’s queries. GSM will invest $900 million to build its depot, charging stations, service stations and acquire a fleet of taxis from VinFast Auto, the group’s Nasdaq-listed EV maker, it said.
Separately, GSM recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesian ride-hailing giant Gojek to jointly promote green transportation in Indonesia. As part of the collaboration, Gojek users will in the future be able to book GSM’s fleet of electric taxis through the Gojek app.
Apart from the taxi venture, Vingroup through VinFast is also investing $1.2 billion over the next few years to build an EV factory in Indonesia. The facility can produce as many as 50,000 cars annually when completed.
VinFast delivered 34,855 EVs last year as it started shipments tt North America and Europe. The deliveries, however, missed the company’s target 50,000 due to rising economic headwinds and slow EV adoption in some regions, Tran Mai Hoa, deputy CEO for sales and marketing at Vinfast, said in a statement last week.
With a net worth of $4.5 billion, Pham has been bankrolling VinFast’s expansion plans as it accelerates EV shipments across North America, Europe and Asia. Besides Indonesia, VinFast has announced plans to build EV factories in India and the U.S. The company listed on Nasdaq last August after merging with Black Spade Acquisition Co., a special purpose acquisition company backed by Hong Kong casino tycoon Lawrence Ho.
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