Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast Auto Ltd plans to aggressively move into Southeast Asian markets, starting with Indonesia, and expects to eventually raise “a lot of capital” to fuel its global expansion plans, according to Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The company expects to meet its target this year of selling 45,000 to 50,000 vehicles, she said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Rishaad Salamat and Yvonne Man.

Southeast Asia has a lot of potential with governments looking to boost EV adoption with aggressive targets, she said.

“We intend to move into Asean aggressively, starting with Indonesia,” Thuy was quoted as saying.

Last month, 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 tycoon 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.

Meanwhile, VinFast delivered 10,027 cars and 28,220 electric scooters in the third quarter, according to earlier exchange filing.

The company has reported delivering a cumulative total of 28,727 vehicles. VinFast has said it sold 7,100 vehicles to GSM Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Co, a Vietnamese taxi company in which Pham holds a 95 percent stake.

VinFast will look to raise “a lot of capital” in the future for development and expansion plans, Thuy said. However, she said the company will rely on support from parent company Vingroup JSC and Vuong in the next 18 months.

The company is constructing a $2 billion (RM9.4 billion) manufacturing complex in North Carolina and plans factories in Indonesia and India, the report added.

The automaker, which reported a wider loss in the third quarter, is on track to break even and reach profitability, Thuy said. Vuong said in May that the EV maker could be profitable after 2025 if operations are “smooth” and break even by the end of 2024.

Earlier this month, VinFast announced in a statement that its net loss for the quarter stood at $622.9 million.

The group’s total revenues were $342.7 million, representing an increase of 159.3 percent from the third quarter of 2022 and an increase of 3.8 percent from the second quarter of 2023. Total revenues are primarily comprised of revenue from EV sales.

VinFast went public in the US in August by merging with blank-check company Black Spade Acquisition Co. The company will release as many as 76 million shares to the market, though a portion will face trading limits, Thuy said.

VinFast is “working on a lot of transactions” to increase its investor base, she added.

According to Bloomberg, Vuong doesn’t directly hold any stake in VinFast, but as of Sept 21, Vingroup owned 50.8 percent of VinFast, Vietnam Investment Group, or VIG, held 32.9 percent of the company and Asian Star Trading & Investment Ltd had a 12.9 percent stake, according an exchange filing. Each of these shareholders is majority owned by Vuong.

VinFast’s key shareholders VIG and Asian Star Trading & Investment Ltd expect to sell 46 million VinFast shares, according to an earlier company statement. Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund VinFast’s expansion plans, it said.

Vietnam’s EV maker VinFast plans Asia expansion; to build plant in Indonesia in 2026