Elon Musk’s Tesla may have the vision to launch its much-awaited Electric Vehicle (EV) in India but the firm faces a challenge from a Vietnam-based business mogul, Pham Nhat Vuong.
A media house, attributing a report by Forbes, claims that Vuong is investing $1.8 billion to set up plants in India, the US and Indonesia by 2026, and also had discussions with Gautam Adani, who is keen to expand its presence in Vietnam.
For those unfamiliar with Vuong, he is the richest man in Vietnam with a net worth of over Rs 39,000 crore ($4.7 billion). The media outlet adds that he is determined to make take his firm VinFast Auto, a globally recognised car brand founded in 2017, to stellar heights.
Vuong is reportedly investing over $10 billion (nearly Rs 83,300 crore) to make his company a leader in the EV segment. The 55-year-old, who owns a luxury resort on Vietnam’s Nha Trang island, has ambitions to make his company profitable by 2025, which is nine years less than the time Tesla needed.
He is a risk-taker with no ceiling on his ambition. Vuong has a vision to sell a million units in six years. The report says that should Vuong achieve this target, it would be 11 years quicker than what Musk’s Tesla needed to achieve the sales milestone.
An economics student from the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute, his mammoth investment includes a completely automated manufacturing plant, charging infra development and developing an assortment of models in the EV segment in the local market, the media house added.
Failures don’t dither the man. Vuong’s restaurant business in Ukraine did not flourish, but he willed himself on to make a mark in the noodles sector, making this business a $150 million empire, before selling it to Nestle. Building a cable car and a commercial skyscraper in Hanoi and launching a smartphone brand VinSmart in 2018 are achievements on his glittering profile.
