Xanh SM's all-EV taxi bet: 51.5% of Vietnam's tech-taxi market

GSM operates Xanh SM, Vietnam's largest pure-electric ride-hailing platform — VinFast cars and e-scooters driven by company-recruited drivers — plus delivery and EV leasing.

Vietnam would leap straight to all-EV taxis: own a huge VinFast-powered fleet of cars and e-scooters and beat asset-light rivals on cost, density and brand.

Chartered capital started at ₫3,000B (95% owned by Pham Nhat Vuong), grew to ₫9.66T by April 2024, and reached ₫54,000B (~US$2.1B) by June 2026.

Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup (parent of EV maker VinFast), incorporated GSM in March 2023 and launched Xanh SM in Hanoi on April 14, 2023, as Vietnam's first pure-electric taxi service — an initial fleet of 600 VinFast cars, bookable by app or hotline, with plans for Ho Chi Minh City the same month.

Xanh SM ended 2023 with an 18.17% tech-taxi market share (behind Grab's 56%), bought 7,100 VinFast cars in its first year under a 30,000-car and 200,000-scooter agreement, and expanded to Laos from late 2023. By 2025 it ran cars, two-wheelers and delivery, entered Indonesia and the Philippines, and a Saigon Ratings report first disclosed 2025 net revenue of about ₫17,400B, up 125% YoY (2024: ~₫7,700B), with EBITDA expected to improve from 2026.

Still scaling: about 51.5% of Vietnam's tech-taxi market in Q4 2025, credit rating raised to vnBBB+ with stable outlook, chartered capital of ₫54,000B, and plans to build positions across Southeast Asia and India in 2026–2028.

The bet is the company: no pure-EV, owned-fleet taxi service at national scale existed in Vietnam, and GSM put ₫54,000B of capital behind changing that.

The result is dated and measurable: an 18.17% tech-taxi share in 2023 rose to 51.5% in Q4 2025, with 2025 net revenue of ₫17.4 trillion, up 125% year on year.

Vertical integration with VinFast made the bet structurally cheaper: GSM buys the manufacturer's own EVs, aligning fleet cost, charging and supply.

It shows capital-heavy strategy beating asset-light incumbents (Grab, Be, Gojek) in a specific market within two years of launch.

Own-the-fleet can beat asset-light rivals when the fleet is vertically integrated: GSM's VinFast tie turned a cost edge into 51.5% share in two years, at the price of ₫54,000B of capital.

As of 2026-09-02 GSM is scaling: Xanh SM holds about 51.5% of Vietnam's tech-taxi market (Q4 2025), 2025 net revenue was ₫17.4 trillion (+125% YoY), and its rating is vnBBB+. Chartered capital reached ₫54,000B after a June 2026 increase, operations extend to Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines, and plans call for Southeast Asia and India by 2026–2028. Saigon Ratings expects EBITDA to improve from 2026 but flags heavy capital needs for fleet, charging and price competition; GSM changed its general director in mid-2026. The open question is whether market leadership converts into profit.