VinFast Q4 net loss grows to $650 million as EV deliveries jump

Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast Auto Ltd.’s losses increased during the fourth quarter as revenue jumped on the acceleration of automobile deliveries.

The company reported a Q4 net loss of $650.1 million, 3.4 percent wider than the third quarter, VinFast said in a filing. Revenue was $436.5 million in the fourth quarter, up 26 percent from the previous quarter and a 133 percent jump from the same period in 2022.

The company reported a net loss of $2.395 billion for full year 2023, or a 14.7 percent increase from 2022, while total revenue stood at $1.198 billion, representing an increase of 91 percent from 2022.

VinFast announced last month that it delivered 13,513 cars in the fourth quarter, a 35 percent increase versus the number of deliveries in the prior three months, and a total of 34,855 cars in 2023.

As of Dec. 31, VinFast, backed by Vietnam’s richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, had sold a cumulative 42,291 EVs. The company is targeting 100,000 deliveries this year, it said in an emailed statement Thursday. The carmaker in October said it sold 7,100 vehicles to GSM Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Co., a Vietnamese taxi company in which Vuong holds a 95 percent stake.

The EV maker invested $213 million in capital expenditures during the fourth quarter, mainly for the development of its VF 6 and VF 7 models and its North Carolina manufacturing plant, developing showrooms and charging stations, according to the statement.

VinFast said it has 13 showrooms in California and 6 dealers in 5 states — New York, Texas, Kansas, Florida and North Carolina — along with another 75 dealers under application. The company said it expects to reach about 130 points of sales in North America, and 400 globally, by the end of 2024.

The EV maker is constructing a $2 billion manufacturing complex in North Carolina and planning factories in Indonesia and India.

The company said on Wednesday that it will break ground at its integrated EV manufacturing site in India’s Tamil Nadu on Feb. 25. VinFast said last month that the facility will have initial investment of $500 million and will have an annual capacity of as much as 150,000 units.