Just five years ago, Vietnam’s VinFast started to produce its first cars. Last week the electric vehicle maker was briefly valued at more than the combined worth of Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen.
In a remarkable stock debut, VinFast’s market capitalisation shot higher after its mid-August listing to a peak of around $190bn. The stock has since slumped and the market value fallen to $64bn. But that still it leaves more highly valued than General Motors ($46bn) and Ford ($48bn). Only Tesla ($785bn) and Toyota ($280bn) are worth more. That is despite the fact the company is only expecting to produce some 50,000 cars this year — a tiny number compared with the 5.9mn vehicles GM sold last year.
If you believe in efficient markets, it could be argued that investors are betting that VinFast, part of the sprawling Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, will rival Tesla and deliver huge growth. That would be a stretch, to put it mildly, particularly given how competitive the electric vehicle market is becoming.