- Tesla registered a local entity in Vietnam this month, paving the way for a potential expansion into the country.
- It will go head-to-head with VinFast, the country’s top-selling automaker, which boasts a sprawling local ecosystem spanning charging and after-sales service and has 92% of the local EV market.
- Analysts said Tesla’s brand and technology could appeal to premium buyers, but breaking into the broader market could be much harder.
Tesla is laying the groundwork to enter Vietnam, setting its sights on a fast-growing electric vehicle market where a formidable homegrown rival is already deeply entrenched.
The U.S. electric vehicle maker registered a local entity, Tesla Motors Vietnam, this month, according to business registration records, paving the way for a potential expansion into the country.
But Tesla would be taking on a homegrown giant. Vietnam became Southeast Asia’s largest electric car market in 2025 as sales more than doubled, with EVs accounting for almost 40% of new car sales, according to International Energy Agency data released in May. Nasdaq-listed VinFast has captured 92% of the domestic EV market, according to HSC research.
VinFast is backed by Vingroup, one of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerates, founded by Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, which has built an ecosystem around its EVs spanning charging and after-sales services.
Vingroup generated 221.97 trillion dong ($8.52 billion) in revenue in the first half of 2026, per its reviewed financial statements.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/22/tesla-vinfast-ev-vietnam.html