Vietnam’s VinFast to promote its EVs to Gojek’s driver-partners in Indonesia
[HO CHI MINH CITY] Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast and pure-electric taxi operator Green and Smart Mobility (GSM) have signed an agreement with Indonesia’s GoTo to promote the EV adoption among driver-partners on ride-hailing app Gojek.
This was announced on Saturday (Jan 13) at a business dialogue co-chaired by Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indonesia President Joko Widodo during the latter’s three-day state visit to Vietnam.
VinFast said in a statement that the agreement aims to provide electric four-wheelers of the Vietnamese brand to driver-partners on Gojek – one of the largest mobility and on-demand platforms in Indonesia.
The deal with VinFast allows Gojek to explore the use of electric cars in South-east Asia biggest economy’s transportation network, following its rival Grab which has been deploying electric four-wheeler fleets in Indonesia with Hyundai since 2019.
Gojek merged with Indonesian e-commerce platform Tokopedia to form GoTo in 2021. It currently operates around 500 electric motorbikes in the archipelago and seeks to make its fleet all-electric by 2030 through collaborations with automakers and leasing deals.
GSM, an EV rental and taxi firm mostly owned by VinFast founder Pham Nhat Vuong, also intends to invest up to US$900 million in Indonesia, the statement said without providing more details.
Launched last March, the firm is currently offering services in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, with fleets entirely consisting of VinFast cars and scooters.
VinFast had earlier announced plans to invest at least US$1.2 billion in Indonesia over the long term, including a US$200 million plant to assemble up to 50,000 vehicles delivered in parts from Vietnam by 2026. This plant has a projected production capacity of 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles per year in Indonesia.
For now, VinFast will distributed imported vehicles from Vietnam to its Indonesian customers.
Last December, Indonesia passed a new presidential regulation that relaxes tax rules on imported built‑up EVs until 2025 for manufacturers that have made investment commitments in EV facilities in the country. The deadline for meeting the 40 per cent minimum local content requirement for EVs has also been extended from 2023 to 2026.
VinFast Indonesia marketing director Surachman Nugroho was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that the facility will serve as VinFast’s regional production base for right-hand drive EVs to supply to customers in countries like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.
The Indonesian plant, which is set to occupy an area of 200 hectares in Bekasi city, will also produce EV batteries and electric scooters.
Globally, VinFast delivered more than 21,000 electric cars and 48,000 electric scooters in the first three quarters of 2023.
The firm currently has two EV manufacturing plants – one in Vietnam’s Hai Phong city, and another that is under construction in North Carolina in the US. It also has four battery facilities in Vietnam.
On Saturday, Widodo paid a visit to the Hai Phong plant, where Vuong hosted him to a tour in an electric buggy.
In the statement, VinFast said Widodo gave the assurance that he would create the necessary conditions for VinFast to quickly complete their investment procedures for production and business in Indonesia.
The investment in Indonesia is the latest in a series of major expansion plans announced by VinFast of late. On Jan 5, the company said it would invest up to US$2 billion to set up its first EV and battery manufacturing facilities in India, with an initial investment of US$500 million for the first five years.
