Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast is reportedly planning to scale back its retail operations by closing five of its 10 corporate-owned stores in Canada. The news comes according to multiple media outlets, including Driving.ca, MSN, and Retail Insider.
VinFast roared into Canada back in 2022, its eye on Toronto, Ontario, and with a goal to expand to Greater Montreal, Quebec, and Vancouver, B.C., with a direct-to-consumer sales model. It eventually opened four stores in Ontario, three in Quebec, and three in B.C. Some were in shopping malls, others were standalone showrooms.
According to Retail Insider, “the closures include prominent mall-based showrooms at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Vancouver’s Park Royal Shopping Centre, and Laval’s CF Carrefour Laval. Two additional locations are also slated for closure, though VinFast has not yet disclosed which specific stores these will be.”
Some of the reasons cited for the closures include lower consumer interest in EVs and federal and provincial cuts to incentives. A recent survey from J.D. Power found that Canadian shoppers of new vehicles who were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to consider buying an EV as their next purchase is down one percentage point from last year.
It also found that pausing Canadian vehicle incentive programs would impact their likelihood of buying an EV.
