Vietnam billionaire’s taxi firm takes on Grab in Southeast Asia

VIETNAM’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong is looking to disrupt ride-hailing sectors across Southeast Asia as his taxi company Green & Smart Mobility JSC, or GSM, battles Grab Holdings Ltd. to be the top ride operator in his home market.

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The company, though, will face challenges as it takes on entrenched rivals in a thin-margin industry and with a small presence in overseas markets, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Nathan Naidu.

The billionaire is leveraging his deep pockets, aggressive pricing and electric vehicles (EV) from VinFast Auto Ltd., which he founded, according to Mordor Intelligence.

The two-and-a-half-year-old GSM, also known as Xanh SM in Vietnam, is bringing its playbook to Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines — and is expected to enter India, where VinFast just opened an EV factory. VinFast said it would open an Indonesian auto factory this fall.

Mr. Vuong sees GSM, in which he holds a 95% stake, as a marketing tool to turn VinFast into a global electric vehicle brand. The ride service accounted for about 21% of the automaker's car sales in the first quarter.