VinFast’s founder hands CEO role to son amid expansion push

HANOI - Pham Nhat Quan Anh, chairman of VinFast Auto Ltd, will assume the role of global chief executive officer, supplanting his father and founder Pham Nhat Vuong, amid the company's aggressive international expansion and mounting losses. Quan Anh was appointed chairman in May and will oversee the automaker's global operations, while retaining his position as CEO of VinMetal, Vingroup's steel manufacturing unit.

The decision follows VinFast's first-quarter net loss of 28.1 trillion dong (US$1.1 billion), a 58.9% increase from the previous year, as the company confronts intense competition. Quan Anh, a Singapore Management University graduate, has held senior roles within VinFast and other Vingroup subsidiaries, contributing to the company's growth in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

Vuong is promoting his other son, Pham Nhat Minh Hoang, to be the global CEO of Green & Smart Mobility JSC, a ride-hailing taxi company, replacing executive Nguyen Quoc Tuan, who has been named global chairman in lieu of Pham Thu Huong, Vuong's wife. The leadership changes underscore both companies' efforts to accelerate overseas growth, with VinFast now selling electric vehicles in 16 countries, produced at four factories across Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, while GSM eyes a potential expansion into the U.S. by the end of 2026, in preparation for a planned Hong Kong initial public offering.