Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast on Monday reported its sixth consecutive quarterly net loss as it continues to ramp up spending to boost sales volumes.
VinFast reported a net loss of $712.4 million for the first quarter, less than the $1.3 billion loss in the previous quarter but 15 per cent more than a year earlier. Analysts’ average forecast was for a $616.3 million loss, according to LSEG data.
Revenue jumped 150 per cent to $656.5 million in the January-March period, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $520 million.
Deliveries leapt nearly 300 per cent to 36,330 vehicles during the quarter, mainly driven by sales in Vietnam, its biggest market.
Backed by Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, Vingroup, VinFast continues to face challenges due to weak consumer demand, stiff competition, and a 25 per cent tariff the U.S. has imposed on imported vehicles. VinFast previously identified the U.S. as a key growth market.
VinFast reported a gross margin of minus 35.2 per cent in the first quarter, compared with minus 58.7 per cent a year earlier.
“Despite Q1 typically being our slowest quarter, deliveries for the first quarter of 2025 exceeded our total deliveries for the first half of last year – an encouraging start to 2025 amid ongoing global uncertainties,” said VinFast Chair Thuy Le.
The firm is intensifying promotional efforts domestically, shifting to a dealership model from the costlier option of its own showrooms, and redirecting its focus to Asia, with its new assembly plant in India set to begin operations in July.
Research and development expenses fell 22.3 per cent year on year in the first quarter, while the cost of sales more than doubled over the same period, it said.
VinFast, which has reported a loss every quarter since it went public in August 2023, has received around $2 billion in financial support from its founder and CEO Pham Nhat Vuong and Vingroup, as of May.
“While its VF3 subcompact SUV is driving volumes, the company is still losing money on every car it sells,” research firm Third Bridge noted in a pre-earnings report.
“The bill of materials is estimated to be significantly higher than those of Tesla and BYD, partly because VinFast lacks scale and still pays a premium to suppliers who are wary of its short track record,” it said.
VinFast shares were up 14.04 per cent in pre-market trading.
The company said it would introduce its next-generation platform and an electrical architecture with the Limo Green model in the third quarter. This will underpin existing EV models next year.
