HANOI (AFP) – Shares of Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast have tumbled, days after its stock market valuation soared above Ford and General Motors (GM) as it debuted on the Nasdaq.
VinFast, Vietnam’s first homegrown car manufacturer, has launched two EV models in North America, becoming the first-ever Vietnamese car sold in the United States (US) market.
At the Nasdaq’s close on Thursday, shares of VinFast – which is part of conglomerate Vingroup, owned by Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong – were at USD19.80, a drop of almost 34 per cent since the previous day.
That came after the shares soared on their first day of trading on Tuesday, closing at more than USD37, with the market value of the company at around USD85 billion – higher than that of Ford and General Motors.
Shares opened on Tuesday at USD22.
By the close of trade on Thursday, the slide brought down VinFast’s stock market value to around USD46 billion, still higher than that of General Motors on USD45 billion but less than Ford’s USD47 billion.
According to VinFast figures, more than 10,000 orders for two models – the VF8 and the VF9 – had been placed by customers in North America.
But only 350 cars – all of them VF8s – are currently on the road.
The company hopes to compete with giants such as Tesla and began building a factory in the US state of North Carolina last month.
The Nasdaq debut came after VinFast completed its merger with Black Spade Acquisition.
Black Spade is a “blank check” company, or a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) introduced to public markets with the sole purpose of merging with an operating company.
There have been fewer transactions with SPAC entities following big market drops by some companies that went this route, including other EV startups.
