New Delhi, July 30 -- Vietnamese electric carmaker VinFast is drawing more than a fourth of its India sales from a ride-hailing company owned by its promoter, using its home market strategy to cement place in the country's top five electric vehicle (EV) makers within its first year of operations.
Data from the government's Vahan portal, reviewed by Mint, shows that GreenSM accounted for 21% to 33% of VinFast's monthly sales between April and July as the ride-hailing service rolled out across Delhi-NCR. GreenSM's largest shareholder is VinGroup chairman and founder Pham Nhat Vuong. So far in FY27, sales to its captive fleet business accounted for about 27% of VinFast's 5,178 total units sold.
This internal demand has helped the company defend its spot as India's fifth-largest EV maker, putting it ahead of Hyundai, Kia, and BYD. It now trails only Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW MG Motor, and Maruti Suzuki, companies for which commercial fleets typically account for just 1-3% of total EV sales.
Even without GreenSM's purchases, VinFast would remain India's fifth-largest EV maker. However, its trailing distance behind fourth-placed Maruti Suzuki, which sold over 6,300 EVs in the same period, would widen from under 1,000 units to more than 2,000 units. From April to June, Vinfast's month-on-month growth has remained in the 8-18% range, excluding sales to the commercial fleet. Overall month-on-month growth spiked to 69% in April with the commercial fleet sales included, but normalised negative 1% in May and 11% in June.
GreenSM entered India in June, launching its premium EV cab service in Delhi-NCR as a springboard for nationwide expansion. The fleet relies on VinFast's Limo Green MPV, an electric seven-seater that debuted for retail customers in April. Other Vinfast models available in India include the VF6 and VF7 electric sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which range between Rs.17-22 lakh, ex-showroom. VF MPV 7 is the most expensive model at Rs.24 lakh.
This strategy mirrors VinFast's playbook in Vietnam, where sales to its affiliated cab fleet initially boosted volumes but raised investor concerns over demand concentration. In 2023, as VinFast's global deliveries surged from 7,000 to 33,000 vehicles, more than two-thirds of those sales went directly to GreenSM. Though GreenSM's share of VinFast's total sales has since tapered to about a fifth, the automaker is now deploying this fleet-led playbook to drive expansion across emerging markets such as India and Indonesia. As GreenSM expands its footprint beyond Delhi-NCR, the partnership is set to give VinFast's Indian sales a further boost.
However, investors had raised sharp concerns over demand quality when VinFast listed on the US market in August 2023. Driven in part by heavy reliance on a group company for sales, the stock plummeted more than 70% within a year.
"While commercial mobility operators play an important role in accelerating EV adoption, increasing public awareness, and supporting the early growth of the electric mobility market, our long-term priority is to build a premium, aspirational brand for individual customers," Tapan Ghosh, chief executive at VinFast India, said in an emailed response to Mint.
"As India's EV market continues to mature, we expect demand to be increasingly driven by a balanced mix of private consumers, commercial fleet operators, and mobility service providers. Green SM is one of the participants in this broader electric mobility ecosystem, alongside other fleet partners that utilize our commercial vehicle offerings. We see this diversified demand as a reflection of a healthy and evolving EV market," he added.
Partnering with fleet operators is a familiar playbook in India, where homegrown automakers like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have previously tapped similar deals. Tata supplied its Tigor EV to BluSmart, while Mahindra partnered with Ola, Uber, and Meru Cabs for its e2o and eVerito models. However, experts said these alliances have failed to generate the consistent monthly volumes VinFast is currently unlocking through its captive arrangement.
Automakers are increasingly targeting the ride-hailing sector to ride the boom in commercial fleet demand. According to Vahan data, taxi registrations rose 9% year-on-year to roughly 312,665 units in calendar year 2025-nearly triple the 114,535 vehicles registered in 2022.
"The Vietnamese, like the Chinese, will challenge the traditional playbook and not do things the way it has been done before. These sales can help the company understand the performance of the product and how customers perceive it. Gone are the days when a vehicle being used as a cab hurt its perception among consumers, particularly in the premium segment," said Deepesh Rathore, founder and head of research at InsightEV. "If it's transparent and the rationale is fair, the sales shouldn't be seen as a red flag," he added.
Founded in 2017 as VinGroup's electric mobility arm, VinFast is targeting aggressive growth across Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and the US. It began manufacturing at its Thoothukudi facility in August 2025 and launched its VF6 and VF7 models in September, backed by a $2 billion investment commitment in India over the next few years. Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from MINT. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at [email protected]