Vinfast boss Pham

BYD and Tesla fear this noodle billionaire

According to Forbes, Pham Nhat Vuong is currently worth 4.1 billion US dollars. This makes the Vinfast boss one of the 1000 richest people in the world.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Vingroup (Portrait), Vinfast (Hochglanz-Autofotos), Dominik Erlinger (Alltags-Autofotos))

While Tesla and BYD are battling it out for market leadership in electric cars, a rival is blossoming in the slipstream that only a few people have had on their radar so far. But the young e-car brand Vinfast from Vietnam has ambitious global plans - and wants to conquer the EU market from Austria. Krone+ on the trail of Vietnamese electric cars.

While the name Vinfast is still causing most Austrians to look askance, it is already on everyone's lips in the Styrian community of Neuberg an der Mürz with its population of 2,300. The new electric car manufacturer with a plant in Haiphong in northern Vietnam wants to herald its European triumph here - and has secured a three-hectare site to use as a warehouse. The local population reacted skeptically, but the Vietnamese are serious: Vinfast has conquered the domestic market in no time at all and group founder Pham Nhat Vuong has already founded dozens of other successful companies - from food companies to real estate, health and educational facilities to mega adventure pools. His rise began in Europe - as a "noodle baron" ...