Vietnam Leads Southeast Asia in Electric Car Sales as VinFast Drives Rapid Growth

Nearly four in 10 new cars are electric

Vietnam became Southeast Asia's largest electric car market in 2025, with electric models accounting for nearly 40% of new car sales, according to the International Energy Agency. Sales more than doubled in a year, taking Vietnam ahead of Thailand in electric car volume and well above the global electric sales share of 25%.

The IEA's electric car trends analysis identifies a distinctive driver: domestic manufacturer VinFast captured nearly the entire Vietnamese electric car market, helped by small, affordable models and registration fee exemptions for vehicles powered entirely by batteries.

Vietnam's rise combines two changes that matter for buyers and industry. Electric cars are taking business from gasoline models, while a Vietnamese manufacturer is supplying demand that many neighboring countries meet mainly through Chinese imports. VinFast's VF 3 and VF 5 competed successfully against conventional cars in similar size categories in 2025.

The expansion continued into 2026. PwC's sixth Overview of the ASEAN-6 Automotive Market put Vietnam's total vehicle sales at around 291,000 in the first six months, up 31.1% from a year earlier. VinFast sold approximately 116,000 electric cars domestically during that period, an increase of 72%.

By September 2026, VinFast reported cumulative domestic deliveries of 177,697 cars, already above the 175,099 it said it delivered during all of 2025. Growth on that scale is making charging access, repairs and the cost of ownership central questions for Vietnam's next stage of electric transport.

How quickly did Vietnam reach this point?

Vietnam's electric car sales share was below 0.05% in 2021, according to energy research organization Ember. By 2025, the share was close to 40%, a shift from a tiny niche to a major part of the market within four years.

Ember's December 2025 analysis placed Vietnam and Singapore around the 40% mark. Singapore's share exceeded 40% during 2025, illustrating how Vietnam's leadership in the number of electric cars sold sits alongside strong adoption in a much smaller national market.

Several dates show how the transition developed:

• 2021: Electric vehicles represented less than 0.05% of Vietnam's new passenger car sales, according to Ember.
• 2022: Vietnam began supporting battery electric car purchases through registration fee exemptions.
• 2025: Electric car sales more than doubled, and the IEA ranked Vietnam as Southeast Asia's largest electric car market.
• January to June 2026: Vietnam's total vehicle sales reached around 291,000, including approximately 116,000 VinFast electric cars.
• January to September 2026: VinFast reported 177,697 domestic deliveries.

Vietnam's expanding electric taxi fleets helped introduce the technology to everyday passengers. After VinFast's growing street presence became prominent in Ho Chi Minh City in 2025, the national figures show how quickly the brand's reach widened beyond an emerging urban trend.

What the sales figures measure

The IEA counts both battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids as electric cars. Battery electric vehicles run entirely on electricity. Plug-in hybrids combine a battery that can be charged externally with a combustion engine.

Conventional hybrids also combine an engine and an electric motor, but they are not charged from a socket. PwC's broader category of electrified vehicles includes hybrids, so its figures describe a wider group than the IEA's electric car totals.

The IEA's Global EV Data Explorer, updated on 20 May 2026, separates sales from vehicle stock. Sales describe purchases during a particular period; stock describes all vehicles already on the road. Vietnam's nearly 40% electric sales share in 2025 refers to new purchases, while the existing fleet also contains cars bought over many earlier years.

Vietnam's overall vehicle market also remains smaller than several neighbors. PwC ranked it fourth among the six markets it studied in the first half of 2026, behind Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Its electric car leadership therefore reflects the composition of new sales as well as their volume.

Battery electric models account for more than 90% of Southeast Asia's electric car sales, according to the IEA. Charging infrastructure is consequently a central part of the region's transition because most of these vehicles rely entirely on electricity for travel.

Affordable models put VinFast at the center

VinFast's smaller cars helped move electric vehicles into the mainstream. The IEA identifies the VF 3 and VF 5 as key models whose competitive prices allowed them to outsell conventional rivals in comparable size categories in 2025.

PwC identified the VF 3 as Vietnam's best selling car in 2025. In the first half of 2026, VinFast's Limo Green took that position, showing that the company's growth was spreading across its range.

An Asian Development Bank article describes how VinFast initially built scale through sales to affiliated ride services and investment in its own charging network. By October 2025, three quarters of its sales were directly to consumers, according to the analysis it presented.

VinFast's September 2026 deliveries reached 23,624 cars, up 17% from August. The VF 3 accounted for 6,474 that month. Across the first nine months, cumulative deliveries included 42,272 VF 3 cars, 40,018 Limo Green vehicles, 30,420 VF 5 and Herio Green vehicles, and 19,026 VF 6 cars. Those figures were preliminary and subject to audits at the end of the year.

Lower battery costs are helping the wider industry offer more affordable cars. The IEA said average electric vehicle battery prices fell 8% over the preceding year, supported by lower raw material costs and wider use of lithium iron phosphate batteries. This battery chemistry reduces reliance on relatively expensive cobalt and nickel.

Electric cars help lift the wider market

Vietnam's vehicle market grew from around 222,000 sales in the first half of 2025 to about 291,000 in the same period of 2026. The increase of nearly 69,000 vehicles accounted for almost 40% of the combined sales increase across the six Southeast Asian markets examined by PwC.

Those six markets, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, sold about 1.76 million vehicles in the first half of 2026, up 11.1%. Vietnam's growth of 31.1% was nearly twice Indonesia's 15.9% and Thailand's 15.1%.

Hybrid sales in Vietnam rose 83%, while demand for imported vehicles increased 23%. More than 127,000 electric and hybrid passenger cars were sold in Vietnam during the period. Across the six markets, electrified vehicles accounted for around 32% of sales.

Mohammad Mudasser of PwC Vietnam said sustained growth would require improvements in infrastructure, running costs and services after purchase. For buyers, those needs translate into practical issues: convenient places to charge, predictable operating expenses and access to maintenance when a vehicle needs attention.

VinFast's 177,697 deliveries through September represented about 36% of a combined national vehicle total of 495,138. That total brings together 282,029 vehicles recorded by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association, VinFast's deliveries and 35,412 Hyundai sales. The association's figures exclude VinFast and Hyundai.

Neighbors expand through different routes

Southeast Asian electric car sales more than doubled to over 500,000 in 2025, reaching nearly one in five new cars sold. Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia led the increase, supported by incentives, production investment and imports.

Thailand, the region's second largest electric car market, sold roughly 140,000 in 2025, up 70%. Electric cars represented nearly a quarter of new sales. Its EV3.5 program, introduced in January 2024, offered purchase subsidies, excise tax reductions and import duty relief.

Thailand also used earlier incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce locally. Cars made in Thailand accounted for 20% of its electric car market in 2025, up from about 5% in 2024, although Chinese imports still supplied roughly three quarters.

Indonesia's electric car sales more than doubled and reached 15% of new car purchases. About 75% were imports from China. Manufacturers increased imports before a tariff exemption expired in December 2025, with roughly half the year's sales occurring in the final quarter.

Malaysia's electric share stood at about 7%, with Chinese imports supplying as much as 80% of its electric car market. Its exemptions for complete imported vehicles ended in 2025, while exemptions for imported kits used in local assembly continue through the end of 2027. The Philippines approached a 10% electric sales share, with Chinese imports supplying most sales.

Vietnam stands apart in manufacturing

Southeast Asia imported more than 300,000 electric cars in 2025, more than twice the previous year's volume. Nearly all came from China, and imports supplied more than half of regional demand, according to the IEA's manufacturing and trade analysis.

Vietnam is an exception to that reliance on imports. Local manufacturers supply most of its electric car demand, with VinFast helping drive electric vehicle production growth across the Asia Pacific region outside China. India's Tata was another domestic manufacturer contributing to that increase.

Thailand and Indonesia have attracted substantial Chinese factory investment. Southeast Asia hosts more than half of Chinese manufacturers' overseas production capacity that can make both combustion and electric vehicles. Thailand accounts for over 30% of that global overseas footprint, and Indonesia for over 20%.

Actual production remains well below what those factories could make. The IEA estimated that Chinese battery electric car plants operated at around 20% of capacity in Thailand and below 15% in Indonesia in 2025. Toyota and Hyundai together held capacity for 1.2 million cars at regional facilities able to produce both technologies, yet made fewer than 2,500 electric cars there.

Policies favoring local assembly are expected to lift factory use in 2026. Vietnam's challenge is different: its domestic producer has already won most electric car demand, making the reliability and reach of that producer's vehicles and supporting services especially consequential for buyers.

Charging becomes an everyday priority

V-Green, the charging network supporting VinFast, has more than 150,000 charging ports nationwide, according to the company figures cited in the original announcement. Its plans include larger charging hubs for longer journeys and expanded battery swapping infrastructure for electric motorbikes.

A charging port is a connection that can serve a vehicle, rather than an entire charging station. The IEA similarly counts publicly available chargers by power sockets, reflecting how many vehicles can charge simultaneously. Drivers also need those connections in useful places, particularly near homes, workplaces and major travel routes.

VinFast has worked with Petrolimex and PVOIL to install charging facilities at petrol stations. PV Power, a PetroVietnam subsidiary, signed a cooperation agreement with South Korea's EN Technologies to study and develop charging systems in Vietnam.

The government has instructed ministries to review rules for charging stations at petrol stations and develop standards for apartment buildings, commercial centers and roadside rest areas. These locations matter for people who lack a private driveway or must recharge during a long trip.

Lam Pham, Asia Energy Analyst at Ember, described the investment needed to sustain adoption:

To sustain and accelerate this shift, continued investment in charging infrastructure and incentive policies will be essential.

Growth brings energy and waste responsibilities

Vietnam's green transport program promotes electric vehicle production, assembly and imports alongside charging infrastructure, within the country's goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Replacing gasoline use also changes where energy is consumed, increasing the importance of electricity generation and grid planning.

Electric motors use energy more efficiently than combustion engines. The Asian Development Bank article explains that conventional vehicles waste around 80% of the energy in their fuel, while electric vehicles use close to 80% of the electricity they consume. The electricity mix still affects the emissions associated with charging.

Vu Thi Diem Xuan, a Van Lang University student writing about Vietnam's electric transition, raised concerns about coal generation, discarded batteries and tire wear. Her essay called for investment in cleaner electricity and a national battery collection and recycling system as vehicle sales expand.

Battery disposal requires planning because batteries contain materials that need controlled collection and treatment. Xuan cited a typical lithium ion battery life of around eight to 10 years, placing attention on the waste handling capacity Vietnam will need as today's vehicles age. Actual replacement schedules depend on the battery and how it is used.

Vietnam's next decade could bring much higher adoption. The IEA projects that electric cars could account for more than 80% of new sales by 2035, while the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association has projected around 1 million electric cars on the road by 2028 and 3.5 million by 2040. These are projections; future sales, charging investment and policy decisions will shape the outcome.

Vietnam's nearly 40% sales share already exceeds Europe's 28% and the global 25% recorded in 2025, though China's share was close to 55%. Its next task is concrete: make charging, maintenance, electricity supply and battery handling keep pace with the cars entering service.

Key Points

• Vietnam became Southeast Asia's largest electric car market in 2025, with nearly 40% of new car sales electric.
• VinFast supplied nearly the entire domestic electric car market, supported by affordable models and registration fee exemptions.
• Vietnam's total vehicle sales grew 31.1% in the first half of 2026, the fastest among six major Southeast Asian markets.
• VinFast reported 177,697 domestic deliveries through September 2026, exceeding its full year total for 2025.
• Vietnam relies mainly on domestic electric car production, while Chinese imports supply much of the wider region's demand.
• Charging access, reliable services, electricity supply and battery recycling are priorities as adoption grows.
• The IEA projects Vietnam's electric share of new car sales could exceed 80% by 2035.