Vinfast, a Vietnamese manufacturer of electric vehicles, saw a 21% increase in share price on Monday, continuing a rise that had increased the company’s market value to $160 billion over the previous week.
The company made a sensational Wall Street debut last month and has quickly increased in valuation to rank third among automakers, just behind Toyota and Tesla.
However, due to the limited number of publicly traded shares in Vinfast, the company has been volatile recently, with shares rising or falling more than 14% in 11 of the last 12 sessions.
Based on a share price of $83.33, the stock was expected to increase its market capitalization by almost $33.6 billion.
On StockTwits, a popular website for retail investors, Vinfast’s shares were among the most avidly followed.
Pham Nhat Vuong, the richest man in Vietnam and the creator of the parent corporation Vingroup, holds a stake in Vinfast that amounts to nearly 99.7% of the company, according to a filing.
Despite the market’s excitement, Vinfast still has a long way to go before it can begin effectively competing with Tesla and other established manufacturers, who are investing enormous sums of money to gain market dominance.
S&P Global Mobility reports that through June, just 137 Vinfast EVs were registered in the United States.
At a time when demand for EVs is waning and Tesla has started a price battle to maintain its hegemony, the company is also making inroads into the U.S. and European markets.
Unlike Tesla, which anticipates delivering 1.8 million cars this year, Vinfast anticipates selling as many as 50,000 electric vehicles.
Vinfast is looking to dealers to increase sales rather than adopting Tesla’s direct-to-consumer strategy. In addition, a $4 billion plant is being built by the business in North Carolina.
