Vietnamese automaker VinFast has become Southeast Asia’s top electric vehicle brand, selling nearly 90,000 EVs in the first eight months of 2025—already exceeding its full-year 2024 total—and helping push battery electric vehicles to 26% of all car sales in Viet Nam.
Experts attribute this rapid rise to generous government incentives like registration fee waivers, VinFast’s free charging policy, and shifting consumer preferences, with Viet Nam now the region’s second-largest EV market behind Thailand and projected to potentially overtake it by year-end.
ASEAN’s automotive landscape is transforming as internal combustion engine sales decline, with EV passenger cars accounting for 47.15% of the regional market in 2024 and Viet Nam’s electric motorcycle segment soaring in early 2025—driven by VinFast’s 488% domestic growth—while Chinese brands like BYD increasingly challenge Japanese manufacturers.
VinFast’s dominance stems from its command over Viet Nam’s charging network with 150,000 ports, competitive pricing such as the VF3 mini SUV at US$13,700, and regional expansion through new factories in Indonesia (50,000 capacity, opening October 2025) and India (US$2 billion plant, 150,000 capacity, opening June 2025).
Despite setbacks in the United States marked by low sales and poor reviews since 2022, VinFast is refocusing on Asia and the Gulf region, where EV adoption is accelerating thanks to government incentives, rising environmental awareness, and ASEAN’s supportive zero-tariff trade policies that strengthen regional manufacturing.
