A Vietnamese electric-taxi company closely tied to VinFast is preparing for its biggest international test yet. Green and Smart Mobility, better known as GSM or Green SM, plans to deploy fleets in the United States, Sweden and the Netherlands before the end of 2026, followed by additional European markets in 2027 as it works toward a planned Hong Kong stock-market listing in 2028.
For Canadians, one detail stands out: Canada was not among the markets identified in GSM’s newly disclosed expansion roadmap. That is notable because VinFast itself already sells electric vehicles in Canada. The distinction highlights how the automaker and its affiliated mobility company are pursuing different international strategies even as their businesses remain closely connected.
GSM Is Making Its Biggest Move Beyond Asia
GSM plans to put vehicles on the road in the United States, Sweden and the Netherlands before the end of 2026. Additional European markets are targeted for 2027. The timetable represents a significant jump for a company launched only in 2023, turning what began as a Vietnamese electric-taxi operation into an increasingly international mobility business. GSM has also recently deployed vehicles in Denmark and already operates across several Asian markets.
The expansion is important because GSM is not merely licensing its name to local taxi operators in its first phase. In the United States and European Union, the company intends to start with vehicles it owns and drivers it employs. That requires substantially more capital than a conventional ride-hailing marketplace. Every new city can involve cars, charging arrangements, drivers and operational infrastructure. GSM is therefore attempting to reproduce abroad a model that helped make its turquoise electric taxis highly visible in Vietnam, but in markets with very different competitive and regulatory conditions.
Canada Is Missing From the Newly Disclosed Roadmap
Canada does not appear among the countries GSM identified for its 2026 and 2027 rollout. The announced destinations are the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands and additional, as-yet-unspecified European markets. GSM has not publicly said that Canada is permanently off the table, nor has it given a reason for leaving the country out of this particular expansion plan. The most accurate conclusion is therefore narrower: no Canadian GSM launch was announced as part of the latest roadmap.
That omission is more interesting because VinFast already has a Canadian presence. The automaker sells vehicles through operations in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec and maintains Canadian showrooms and service locations, including facilities in Mississauga, Oakville, Langley, Saint-Laurent and Laval. Its Canadian website currently markets the VF 8 and VF 9. In other words, GSM would not be entering a country where the VinFast name is entirely unfamiliar. For now, however, VinFast’s Canadian retail business and GSM’s international taxi expansion remain separate tracks.
The Taxi Company and VinFast Are Closely Intertwined
GSM is owned by VinFast leader Pham Nhat Vuong and his family, making its relationship with the automaker far deeper than an ordinary fleet customer buying vehicles from an unrelated manufacturer. GSM operates using VinFast electric vehicles, while VinFast gains a large institutional buyer capable of placing thousands of its cars into daily commercial service. The arrangement creates a visible feedback loop: GSM gets vehicles for its transportation network, while VinFast gains sales volume and rolling advertisements in the cities where GSM operates.
That connection was particularly significant during VinFast’s earlier development. VinFast disclosed that 72% of its vehicle sales in 2023 went to related parties, predominantly GSM. That proportion has since declined substantially. According to the companies, GSM now represents roughly one-quarter of VinFast car sales, and the share is expected to remain above 20% in coming years. Diversification reduces some concentration, but GSM remains a strategically important customer as VinFast tries to expand beyond its Vietnamese home market.
GSM Is Betting on a More Expensive Model Than Uber
One of GSM’s defining characteristics is that it has historically operated much more like a traditional fleet company than Uber or Grab. Rather than primarily connecting passengers with independent drivers who already own vehicles, GSM built much of its growth around company-owned VinFast EVs driven by employees. That approach can give the company greater control over vehicle quality, branding, cleanliness, driver training and the passenger experience. It also helps explain why identical turquoise taxis became so recognizable on Vietnamese streets.
The trade-off is cost. Cars must be purchased, financed, maintained and charged regardless of whether passenger demand fills every available hour. GSM is now introducing a hybrid approach in Vietnam that combines employed and independent drivers. Around 40% of vehicles currently operating on its Vietnamese platform are company-owned. Yet its U.S. and EU launches are expected to begin with the more capital-intensive model of company vehicles and employed drivers. The challenge will be keeping those vehicles busy enough to justify the investment before transitioning toward a lighter platform structure.
Its Rapid Rise in Vietnam Explains the Global Ambition
GSM has a domestic success story to point to when making its case abroad. Market-research figures reported for the fourth quarter of 2025 put Xanh SM, GSM’s Vietnamese ride-hailing brand, at 51.5% of the country’s four-wheel ride-hailing market measured by gross merchandise value. Grab followed at 42.64%, while Be accounted for 5.86%. The quarter represented the first time Xanh SM’s estimated share moved above 50%.
The scale behind those percentages is substantial. Vietnam’s four-wheel ride-hailing market recorded an estimated $490.72 million in transaction value during the fourth quarter of 2025, representing approximately 133.31 million trips. GSM had also maintained the leading position for 15 consecutive months by that point. Those results help explain why management believes the model can travel. Still, winning at home does not automatically translate into New York, Amsterdam or Stockholm. Consumer habits, labour costs, charging infrastructure, insurance rules and established competitors can change the economics dramatically from one market to another.
Southeast Asia Has Been the Testing Ground
Before turning toward the United States and Europe, GSM has spent more than two years building experience outside Vietnam in Asian markets. In April 2026, it expanded its Green SM Platform in Indonesia and the Philippines, allowing qualifying VinFast EV owners and renters to register as service partners. The initiative represented an important shift from a purely company-controlled fleet toward a structure capable of bringing independently operated vehicles onto its network.
The Philippines illustrates how aggressively GSM can use partnerships to scale. In May, the company announced agreements with 75 transport companies and cooperatives that could support the deployment of as many as 18,497 VinFast electric vehicles. The prospective footprint covered major markets including Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Baguio. That is a different strategy from purchasing every vehicle itself. Experience with both models could become valuable as GSM enters wealthier but more expensive Western markets, where the company ultimately intends to add non-employee drivers after beginning with company-owned fleets and salaried drivers.
A One-Million-Vehicle VinFast Deal Raises the Stakes
The commercial connection between GSM and VinFast is set to become even larger. In May 2026, the two companies signed a framework agreement under which VinFast could supply GSM with approximately one million electric vehicles and four million electric scooters between 2026 and 2030. The vehicles are intended for ride-hailing, leasing and other mobility services across GSM’s international markets. Exact quantities, prices and delivery schedules will depend on individual purchase agreements.
The numbers matter because VinFast itself remains in an expensive growth phase. The automaker reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of approximately US$920.7 million, up 41.7% from a year earlier, but recorded a net loss of roughly US$1.12 billion. A large GSM purchasing program could therefore provide valuable demand as VinFast expands production and distribution. The relationship works in both directions: GSM’s global ambitions require an enormous supply of EVs, while VinFast benefits when its affiliated mobility company puts those vehicles to work in new countries.
International Expansion Is Part of the IPO Story
The expansion campaign is unfolding ahead of GSM’s planned 2028 initial public offering in Hong Kong. The company has said IPO preparations are beginning before the listing, including outreach to potential large investors. It has not disclosed a formal fundraising target, debt position or final valuation. Earlier discussions produced widely differing numbers, underscoring how uncertain the eventual valuation remains.
GSM previously said advisers had suggested a valuation near US$20 billion. Earlier Reuters reporting, however, cited sources who discussed a possible value of only US$2 billion to US$3 billion and potential fundraising of at least US$200 million. Those figures were preliminary rather than confirmed IPO terms. The difference illustrates why international growth matters so much. A fleet operating successfully across multiple continents could tell investors a very different story from a taxi company whose dominance remains concentrated primarily in Vietnam. Entering the U.S. and Europe before 2028 gives GSM an opportunity to prove that its model can scale beyond Southeast Asia before public investors are asked to price it.
The U.S. and Europe Will Test Whether the Economics Travel
Moving into Western markets gives GSM visibility, but it also exposes the company to harder financial questions. Industry analyst Mehdi Jaouadi of YCP described the overseas strategy as high-risk, pointing particularly to fleet utilization. A vehicle that sits idle still carries acquisition, financing, depreciation and insurance costs. With company-owned cars and salaried drivers planned during the initial U.S. and European stages, keeping vehicles productively occupied will be critical.
VinFast’s own international experience provides another cautionary example. The automaker sold nearly 200,000 vehicles in 2025, according to Reuters, but only about 11% were sold outside Vietnam. It has also faced complications with some overseas manufacturing plans, while its delayed North Carolina factory became the subject of a lawsuit filed by the state in 2026. GSM is therefore moving aggressively into regions where the wider VinFast ecosystem has not yet achieved the same traction it enjoys at home. Strong Vietnamese brand recognition will mean much less when the first GSM vehicles begin competing against established transportation platforms abroad.
Canada Could Still Become a Later Opportunity
Canada’s absence from this expansion round should not be interpreted as a definitive rejection. GSM has identified only part of its future European rollout, and companies frequently add markets as operating models evolve. VinFast itself describes North America and Europe among its target regions, while its Canadian business demonstrates that regulatory, retail and service groundwork already exists for the automaker north of the U.S. border.
For the moment, however, the strategic priorities are clear. GSM wants to establish U.S. operations, build footholds in Sweden and the Netherlands, expand further through Europe and create a stronger international profile before its targeted 2028 Hong Kong listing. Canada simply is not part of the announced sequence. Whether that changes may depend on what happens first in those new markets: vehicle utilization, customer demand, labour costs and the success of GSM’s planned transition from company-owned fleets toward a broader driver platform. The next two years will show whether its rapid Vietnamese rise can be transformed into a genuinely global electric-mobility business.
