By Nexvoro Tech Wire
PUBLISHED FRI, SEP 18, 2026 10:19 PM UTC • 6 MIN READ
Primary Journalistic Dispatch & Direct Reporting
On September 3, 2026, Reuters reported that Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), the Vietnamese electric taxi operator linked to VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ: VFS ) and its billionaire founder Pham Nhat Vuong, plans to put cars on the road in the US, Sweden and the Netherlands by year-end and expand into more European markets in 2027.
The buildout is meant to happen ahead of GSM's planned 2028 initial public offering in Hong Kong, for which advisers have suggested a roughly $20 billion valuation.
In-Depth Developments & Factual Context
The news comes the same week Reuters reported VinFast suspended plans to assemble some electric vehicles in India and faces a US lawsuit over delays at a subsidized plant.
GSM gives VinFast a captive and growing sales channel. The taxi firm buys every vehicle it operates directly from VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ: VFS ), often at a discount. It creates internal demand that does not depend entirely on retail customers. As GSM expands into the US and Europe, its fleet purchases could support VinFast's vehicle volumes even if consumer demand develops slowly in those markets.
Industry Impact & Strategic Analysis
VinFast's delivery growth also gives investors a stronger volume story. Global EV deliveries reached 70,085 vehicles in the second quarter, up 96% year over year. First-half deliveries rose 78% to 128,662 vehicles. If VinFast can sustain that growth, higher production and sales volumes could help spread fixed costs across more vehicles and gradually reduce its per-unit losses.
A future GSM listing could also unlock value for VinFast shareholders. The taxi firm has discussed a Hong Kong IPO at a suggested valuation of around $20 billion, which would give public investors a way to value VinFast's captive ride-hailing ecosystem separately. A successful listing could validate VinFast's strategy of building demand through affiliated businesses while giving the broader group another source of capital for expansion.
Forward Outlook & Market Perspective
GSM's fleet model requires substantial capital to scale. The firm employs its own drivers and owns every vehicle in its fleet, unlike platforms such as Grab and Uber that rely more heavily on independent drivers and their own vehicles. Expanding this model into expensive markets such as the US, Sweden, and the Netherlands could require real upfront investment while VinFast itself continues to burn cash.
VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ: VFS )'s international expansion also continues to face execution problems. The company suspended plans to assemble EVs in India and faces a US lawsuit over delays at a factory that received public subsidies. These setbacks raise questions about VinFast's ability to execute large overseas projects, particularly as the business tries to expand across multiple new markets at the same time.
GSM also faces a much tougher competitive environment as it moves into the US and Europe. The company already competes with established platforms such as Grab and GoTo in Asia. But entering markets dominated by Uber and other local operators will require GSM to build brand recognition, driver networks, and customer demand from scratch. That expansion could consume significant capital before the business reaches the scale needed to generate attractive returns.
Hedge fund interest in VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ: VFS ) remains minimal but is growing off a tiny base: just 8 funds in Insider Monkey's database held a stake at the end of the second quarter, up from 4 in the first quarter, with a combined position of under $1 million against a market cap of roughly $7.3 billion. That's a fraction of the institutional attention paid to other richly valued, loss-making EV names: Rivian drew 40 hedge fund holders worth $1.72 billion, and Lucid drew 23 holders worth $42 million, both far ahead of VinFast's still-nascent footprint among the funds Insider Monkey tracks.
GSM's international expansion and VinFast's rapid delivery growth give the group a credible path toward greater scale, while a potential $20 billion GSM valuation could eventually show value within VinFast's broader ecosystem. However, GSM's capital-heavy fleet model, VinFast's persistent losses, and recent setbacks in India and the US show that expansion alone will not guarantee better returns. VinFast still needs to prove that rising vehicle volumes can reduce losses and that GSM can enter expensive new markets without consuming excessive capital. For investors, the key question is whether the group's growing scale can turn into stronger economics before the planned 2028 GSM listing.
Reporting synthesized and verified under Nexvoro.tech editorial guidelines. Full primary records referenced via Yahoo Finance.
Reporting synthesized under Nexvoro.tech Editorial Standards • Referenced via Yahoo Finance
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