Vietnamese automaker VinFast has secured a top-five position in India's EV market by selling over a quarter of its vehicles to its promoter-owned ride-hailing firm, GreenSM. This strategy mirrors the company’s expansion playbook in Vietnam and Indonesia, raising questions about long-term demand from retail customers.
VinFast, the Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer, has quickly established itself as a top-five player in the Indian EV market. Data from the government's Vahan portal for the 2027 fiscal year indicates that the company has sold 5,178 units, with approximately 27% of these sales going to GreenSM, a ride-hailing service controlled by VinFast promoter Pham Nhat Vuong. This captive sales model—where a company sells products to its own affiliate—has been a cornerstone of the manufacturer's market entry strategy.
Impact of Fleet-Driven Volumes
The reliance on GreenSM for sales has been consistent, with internal data showing the ride-hailing firm accounting for between 21% and 33% of VinFast’s monthly volumes from April to July 2026. While this strategy has helped VinFast maintain its fifth-place standing behind major incumbents like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW MG Motor, and Maruti Suzuki, it highlights a heavy concentration of sales within the promoter's ecosystem. Excluding these fleet sales, the gap between VinFast and the fourth-ranked player, Maruti Suzuki, becomes significantly wider. While the inclusion of commercial fleet sales contributed to a 69% month-on-month growth in April, performance excluding these transactions remains more volatile, with a 1% decline in May followed by an 11% recovery in June.
Historical Context and Investor Scrutiny
This approach is not new for VinFast; the company previously utilized the same model in its home market of Vietnam. During 2023, more than two-thirds of its 33,000 global deliveries were directed to GreenSM. This concentration of revenue within the group faced significant investor pushback during the company's US stock market listing in August 2023, where the share price experienced a decline of more than 70% over the following year. Investors have historically viewed such high levels of related-party transactions as a potential risk to the sustainability of demand, as they may not accurately reflect retail consumer interest in the brand.
Market Landscape and Future Outlook
VinFast India currently offers models including the VF6 and VF7 electric SUVs, priced between ₹17 lakh and ₹22 lakh, alongside the Limo Green MPV at ₹24 lakh. While partnerships between EV makers and fleet operators such as BluSmart are common in India, the scale and consistency of VinFast's internal sales remain distinct. Tapan Ghosh, CEO of VinFast India, has emphasized that the company views commercial mobility as a key component for early EV adoption but intends to transition toward a larger share of individual retail customers as the market matures. The company's ability to diversify its customer base beyond its own fleet remains a primary monitorable for long-term growth and brand stability.