Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast is scaling back its Canadian retail operations, closing half of its 10 corporate-owned stores amid a challenging EV market. The move comes just two and a half years after VinFast entered the country with an ambitious plan to disrupt the electric vehicle sector and build a direct-to-consumer sales model across Canada.
VinFast officially launched in Canada in late 2022 with great fanfare, opening its first showroom at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in November of that year. The flagship location was part of an aggressive expansion strategy aimed at rolling out more than 35 corporate-owned showrooms across the country. Within a few months, the company had opened a total of 10 retail locations — four in Ontario, three in Quebec, and three in British Columbia — all operated directly by VinFast, bypassing the traditional franchised dealership model.
Unlike many of its competitors, VinFast opted for high-profile locations within major shopping malls and standalone showrooms in key markets. The aim was to boost brand awareness and make it easier for Canadian consumers to experience the vehicles in highly trafficked urban environments.
However, as of May 2025, the automaker announced that five of its 10 stores will be shuttered. 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.
In a statement, the company emphasized the need for flexibility amid evolving market conditions, saying: “It is critical that we continue to adapt and evolve our business to ensure we are best positioned for future growth.”
Full List of VinFast Canadian Locations
Here is a full breakdown of the 10 VinFast corporate-owned stores across Canada as of mid-2025, with current closure status:
Ontario:
- Toronto Showroom (Yorkdale Shopping Centre) – Closing
3401 Dufferin St, Toronto, ON M6A 2T9 - Mississauga Showroom & Service Centre
5505 Ambler Drive, Mississauga, ON L4W 3Z1 - Oakville Showroom & Service Centre
2270 South Service Road, Oakville, ON L6L 5M9 - Guelph Showroom & Service Centre
945 Woodlawn Rd W, Guelph, ON N1K 1G2
Quebec:
- Laval Showroom (CF Carrefour Laval) – Closing
3003 Boul. le Carrefour, Laval, QC H7T 1C7 - Laval Showroom & Service Centre (Bd Chomedey)
2350 Bd Chomedey, Laval, QC H7T 2W3 - Saint-Laurent Showroom & Service Centre (Trans-Canada Highway)
9775 Route Transcanadienne, Saint-Laurent, QC H4S 1T6
British Columbia:
- West Vancouver Showroom (Park Royal Shopping Centre) – Closing
2002 Park Royal S, West Vancouver, BC V7T 2W4 - New Westminster Showroom & Service Centre
210 12th St, New Westminster, BC V3M 4H2 - Langley Showroom (Langley Bypass, Surrey)
19459 Langley Bypass, Surrey, BC V3S 6K1
Sluggish Sales Prompt a Strategic Shift
VinFast’s pullback in Canada is being driven largely by a combination of underwhelming sales, shifting government incentives, and broader headwinds facing the electric vehicle industry.
In 2023, VinFast sold just 89 vehicles across Canada. Although sales picked up in 2024 with the introduction of the VF8 SUV, reaching approximately 2,000 units sold for the year, the numbers fell significantly short of the company’s initial projections. In the first quarter of 2025, VinFast reported Canadian sales of 300 VF8 models and just 15 units of its larger VF9 SUV.
Multiple factors have contributed to the company’s struggle to gain traction in Canada. Rising interest rates have cooled consumer demand across multiple sectors, while reductions to both federal and provincial electric vehicle rebates have made EVs less affordable for many buyers. In several provinces, programs that previously offered up to $5,000 or more in purchase incentives have been scaled back or suspended, further discouraging potential customers.
At the same time, competition in the Canadian EV market has intensified, with established brands such as Tesla, Hyundai, Ford, and Volkswagen offering a growing lineup of electric models backed by extensive dealership networks, stronger consumer confidence, and more robust service infrastructures.
A Global Strategy in Flux
The Canadian downsizing is part of a larger reevaluation of VinFast’s overall business model in North America. After initially pursuing an exclusively direct-to-consumer strategy in both Canada and the United States, VinFast has begun pivoting toward franchised dealerships in key U.S. markets. In April 2025, the company announced that it would close all of its company-owned showrooms in California, shifting U.S. sales entirely to a network of franchised dealers.
In its most recent update, VinFast confirmed it had developed a franchised dealer network of 38 operational and soon-to-open locations across 16 U.S. states, including California. The automaker has also hinted that it may pursue a similar franchising model in Canada to supplement or replace its corporate-owned stores in the future.
Outside North America, VinFast has signalled that it may also reconsider its direct sales approach in Europe as it seeks to optimize global operations. The automaker has faced mounting financial pressures after ambitious international expansion efforts encountered slower-than-expected consumer adoption and rising operational costs.
The Promise and Pause of VinFast’s Manufacturing Ambitions
When VinFast first announced its North American expansion, it included plans for a massive new factory in Chatham County, North Carolina. The proposed $4 billion facility was slated to include an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, as well as manufacturing lines for batteries and electric buses.
However, in 2024, the company announced it was suspending construction of the North Carolina plant, citing the need to prioritize operational efficiency and better align production with actual market demand. This pause raised further questions about VinFast’s ability to scale production globally while simultaneously building out its distribution and support infrastructure.
Meanwhile, plans to introduce a lower-cost VF3 model in North America have also been shelved, with no firm timeline provided for its potential launch.
VinFast’s Canadian Entry: From High Hopes to Hard Reality
VinFast’s entry into Canada in 2022 was marked by optimism and confidence. Backed by Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup, the company invested heavily in brand-building and infrastructure. Its early messaging promised Canadians stylish, affordable electric SUVs combined with high-end customer experiences and innovative technology.
VinFast also emphasized its unique ability to rapidly scale production, having built its original manufacturing plant in Vietnam in just 21 months. Originally producing internal combustion vehicles and electric scooters, the company fully committed to electric vehicle production in 2021 with its VF8 and VF9 models engineered for global export.
Yet as VinFast’s experience in Canada illustrates, even well-capitalized entrants face significant barriers in cracking mature automotive markets. The challenges of building consumer trust, securing adequate service capacity, and competing against long-established brands have proven formidable.
Commitment to Service Despite Downsizing
Even as it pulls back from several retail locations, VinFast has publicly reaffirmed its commitment to existing Canadian customers. The company stated that it will expand its after-sales service network nationwide to support warranty repairs, maintenance, and parts availability.
This focus on maintaining service capacity is especially critical as the company works to reassure early adopters concerned about the long-term viability of their purchases amid store closures.
Future Outlook: VinFast’s Canadian Experiment Enters a New Phase
The contraction of VinFast’s retail footprint in Canada reflects the broader volatility currently gripping the global electric vehicle market. While long-term forecasts continue to predict eventual mass adoption of EVs, short-term sales fluctuations and policy uncertainties are forcing automakers to recalibrate their strategies.
For VinFast, the Canadian market remains a work in progress. The company has indicated it remains committed to Canada, but its original vision of dozens of corporate-owned stores selling directly to consumers has quickly given way to a more pragmatic—and potentially franchised—future.
The next 12 to 18 months will likely determine whether VinFast can build the necessary foundation to thrive in Canada’s highly competitive EV landscape, or whether it joins the growing list of international brands that have struggled to gain traction in North America.
What’s missing from this article is mention that Vinfast vehicles were objectively one of the worst EVs on Canadian roads, with terrible performance and build quality. They are like the Hyundais and Daiwoos of the 1990s, except instead of being dirt cheap (and thus justifiably bad) these Vinfasts are still over $50,000 for the most basic model. The global car market, let alone Canada, simply cannot sustain entry-level EVs that are priced at a high premium.