https:\/\/vietnamnet.vn\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Houses aren\u2019t selling well \u2013 halting land acquisition at home<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
For a long time, selling real estate has been Vingroup\u2019s most profitable business. Its property arm, Vinhomes, acted like a \u201ccash cow,\u201d continuously channeling funds into car manufacturing and technology R&D. But now, this funding pool is under considerable pressure. In the first half of this year, the property market completely reversed from the previous two years, showing signs of price decline. Worse still, lending rates remain extremely high \u2013 until mid\u2011July, commercial bank loan costs were still around 15\u201116% per annum. Both homebuyers and investors are under great strain, and few dare to make a move, causing primary market transactions to plummet 62% in the first six months, with only a little over 20,000 units sold.<\/p>\n
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Real estate market in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Source: https:\/\/vnexpress.net\/<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n With houses hard to sell and the EV business still losing money, Vinhomes decided to stop expanding its land bank in Vietnam and use all available cash to develop existing projects. Previously, Vinhomes was a major land acquirer, holding prime locations in major cities. But even without new land, its reserves remain substantial \u2013 including land under permitting procedures, the total developable land bank in the future amounts to about 49,500 hectares. To put that in perspective, the next largest player, Sun Group, has only about 7,000 hectares, and Novaland just 2,400 hectares \u2013 peers simply cannot compare. However, since domestic real estate is no longer as profitable, to sustain long\u2011term investments in EVs, AI, and other fields, they had no choice but to go abroad and seek opportunities in international markets.<\/p>\n
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Going global \u2013 replicating successful models in other countries<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
So what exactly are they doing overseas? By the first half of 2026, Vingroup owns or has invested in about 30 companies worldwide, spanning a wide range of locations including the United States, Germany, and India. The businesses mainly cover EV production, robotics, and real estate tourism. In essence, they aim to replicate the model that succeeded in Vietnam in other countries that are at a similar stage of development.<\/p>\n
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Groundbreaking ceremony for VinFast\u2019s EV plant in Chatham County. Source: https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/<\/p>\n
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For example, in Africa, they are planning a 6,300\u2011hectare large\u2011scale urban project in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The local government is providing the land for free, and requires the construction of a modern urban centre featuring residences, hospitals, and schools. In India, Vingroup has proposed investing $3 billion to build a smart city in Telangana; in Uzbekistan, they plan to develop a 1,000\u2011hectare \u201cVietnam City\u201d in the capital Tashkent, along with electric taxis and charging stations. The expansion is certainly ambitious, but doing projects abroad involves different legal frameworks, and how these plans will actually be executed remains a major challenge.<\/p>\n
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Trouble in the US plant \u2013 tax incentives revoked<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Among its overseas operations, the automotive sector is undoubtedly the centrepiece. VinFast has set up branches in Singapore, the US, Germany, and other markets. The most typical example is the electric vehicle factory in North Carolina, USA. This project was once hailed by the former state governor as a \u201cshining jewel.\u201d However, on 22 July, the local Chatham County Commission voted to suspend a $400 million incentive agreement signed with VinFast. The reason: VinFast failed to meet the agreed\u2011upon timeline.<\/p>\n
Outside VinFast\u2019s US headquarters in Los Angeles. Source: https:\/\/laodong.vn\/<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n As early as May, the North Carolina Department of Justice sued the company for breaching the agreement, demanding that the land be reclaimed through legal means. Looking back to 2022, when VinFast first announced the plant, it made bold promises \u2013 a $4 billion investment to produce 150,000 EVs and create 7,500 jobs. To attract them, local authorities offered incentives totalling over $1.2 billion, but these funds would only be released after verifying that the company had actually increased employment and investment.<\/p>\n
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Major scale\u2011back and mounting losses<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Years later, progress at the US plant has strayed far from the original plan. Production, originally scheduled for 2024, has been postponed to at least 2028. The scale has also been sharply reduced: building floor area was cut from 92,500 square metres to 72,700 square metres, and jobs from 7,500 to 1,400. To make way for the road and factory construction, local authorities had to demolish businesses, homes, and a century\u2011old church. Local commentators have noted that if the project ultimately fails, it could become one of the region\u2019s biggest economic blunders.<\/p>\n
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The plant\u2019s setbacks are mirrored by its poor financials. Since announcing the US factory, VinFast has accumulated losses of $9.47 billion over several fiscal years. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, it lost over $1 billion. To lighten the burden, VinFast implemented a major restructuring in May 2026, spinning off its Vietnamese production operations and handing them over to new investors.<\/p>\n
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Vingroup founder Pham Nhat Vuong with his EV brand VinFast. Source: https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In short, with Vietnamese real estate cooling and interest rates high, Vingroup\u2019s move abroad to find new profit opportunities was an inevitable step. Whether it is developing a new city on free land in Africa or investing in smart cities in India, the ambition is clear. However, cross\u2011border business is fraught with challenges \u2013 differing local laws, capital costs, and execution hiccups are unavoidable hurdles. In particular, the stoppage, lawsuits, and ever\u2011growing losses at the US plant add considerable uncertainty to Vingroup\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
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Want to discuss investment opportunities or related topics in Vietnam? Please contact us:<\/strong> <\/span> <\/em> <\/span><\/p>\nTel: +(886) 095 807 2379<\/span><\/p>\nLine: vnlandnote<\/span><\/p>\nWeChat: vnlandnote<\/span><\/p>\n For more updates and insights about Vietnam, please follow us:<\/span> <\/em> <\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n Facebook: www.facebook.com\/vnlandnote\/<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\nWeChat Official Account: hcmc101<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recently, Vietnam\u2019s richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, made a decision that surprised many. As the domestic property market cooled down, he took Vingroup, Vietnam\u2019s largest private conglomerate, and turned overseas, rolling out nearly 20 projects across 15 countries at once. Today, let\u2019s take a closer look at what this billionaire is up to abroad, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","category-trendy-topics"],"yoast_head":"\n
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