HANOI — Despite being a minnow in the fiercely competitive global electric vehicle (EV) market, Vietnamese EV maker VinFast, which made its debut on the Nasdaq last week via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger, is betting that it can become a more valuable company.
On its first day of trading in the U.S. on Tuesday, the company’s stock opened at $22, more than double the $10 per share agreed with SPAC partner Black Spade Acquisition that had valued VinFast at $23 billion. The shares ended the day at $37.06 giving the EV maker a market capitalization of $85 billion — higher than Ford’s $48 billion and General Motors’ $46 billion.