Vietnam-headquartered electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast announced its plans to expand in seven more markets in Asia, including Indonesia. The company also targets to start deliveries from next year and set up a plant in Indonesia in 2026.

VinFast, formed and almost entirely controlled by Vietnam richest man Pham Nhat Vuong, also plans to invest around $1.2 billion in the Indonesian market in the long-term, according to its filing to the to US Securities and Exchange Commission dated Sep 12. Pham is also the Founder of VinFast’s parent company Vingroup.

“We plan to commence deliveries of our EVs in Indonesia in 2024 with right-hand driving models of the VF e34 and VF 5, with the VF 6 and VF 7 to follow. We have also identified Indonesia from among our seven new market clusters as a key potential market for the potential establishment of manufacturing facilities for our EVs and batteries due to the relatively low cost and availability of domestic raw materials,” VinFast wrote in its filing.

“Based on our evaluation of the market opportunity in Indonesia, we have set a preliminary investment target of up to approximately $1.2 billion into Indonesia in the long-term. The target includes approximately $150 to $200 million that we envision applying toward the establishment of a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) facility, with production capacity in the range of 30,000 and 50,000 cars per year and a target production start date in 2026. Additional investments in the country up to the preliminary investment target would be subject to market conditions and other factors,” the company added.

The Indonesian facility will be VinFast’s third besides its main one in northern Vietnamese city of Haiphong, and a new plant in North Carolina, slated to start in 2025. VinFast earlier said it plans to also build a plant in Europe.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has a population of 270 million people. The country has been trying to attract global EV makers including Tesla and China-based BYD, among others.

Many sees the country’s abundant supplies of nickel, a key component of EV batteries, as a main factor to attract EV makers from overseas.

The EV maker also said in its filing that it plans to create a presence in India, Malaysia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and expand its presence in Europe, as it identified between 40 and 50 potential markets.

VinFast aims to set up its own distributors and may open showrooms in those locations, the filing showed.

Last month, the startup achieved a Nasdaq listing that valued the loss-making startup at more than $85 billion, higher on its listing day than Ford, Reuters reported.

VinFast is entering the American market at a time when EV pricing is under pressure, led by market leader Tesla and a range of Chinese companies.

Since its establishment in 2017, VinFast has announced numerous ambitious EV growth plans overseas.

Last year, VinFast Global Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy told reporters in Nha Trang, Vietnam during a media trip that the company has started planning for its expansion in Southeast Asia. “Our focus right now is still the US. We are very focused on North America and Europe. But then we’ve also started planning.”

“I think Southeast Asia is pretty fragmented. You need to look at the different markets differently because [there’s] left-hand drive, right-hand drive, the economy and everything is different,” said Thuy, who is also Vice Chairwoman of VinFast’s parent company, Vingroup. “You cannot generalize Southeast Asia [as a whole].”

Vietnam’s VinFast to focus on US, European EV markets before expanding in Southeast Asia