This electric car manufacturer is already in great difficulty and makes a radical decision

The Vietnamese manufacturer Vinfast does not meet the success hoped for in Europe. The overhaul of its activities will involve the total closure of its current network.

Nearly 100,000 sales of electric cars in 2024 (97,399 to be exact), with an increase of almost 200 %. This is a nice result for Vinfast. But the smile remains tense, since the company accuses a loss of $ 3.2 billion in 2024, compared to 2.4 billion in 2023.

The good results on the sales side are not satisfactory if they are observed in detail. The majority of volumes are sold in Asia. And if the brand insists on highlighting its good start in Indonesia, it is clear that more than 80 % of cars that come out of its factories do not leave the national market.

Read tooSupertest: VINFAST VF6 Plus, recharging and traveling times of our test

The ambitious manufacturer wanted to run all the hares at the same time: expansion in Asia, North America, Middle East, Europe … and it is a terrible observation of failure. Sales in North America does not exceed 4,000 units, and the trade war declared by Trump will not help. In Europe, the manufacturer does not communicate, but its sales probably amount to hundreds more than in thousands. His hopes were based on the new compact VF6 SUV.

End of direct sale

Following the example of Tesla, Vinfast had embarked on a live sales model. An example also followed by most Chinese manufacturers. But this model does not work for everyone … According to the German site Elektrauto-News, the Vinfast sales sites will therefore close their doors at the end of the week and the manufacturer will begin to yield its assets shortly after.

But that does not mean the end of the presence of the brand in Europe. It is planned to move on to a more conventional marketing, via franchised dealers. Nevertheless, nothing is active for the moment on the constitution of this new network.

The method used is very surprising and looks like panic. Vinfast brutally interrupts its current model without plan B or any recovery period with the possible new network, meaning a total stop of sales. In addition, around 90 % of employees have already been notified from the end of their contract, without the possibility of transfer to the new network which does not exist. Likewise, it is still unknown how vehicle maintenance will be ensured during the transition phase.