Nikkei Asia: GSM's electric taxi service leads Vietnam, expands to Philippines

According to Nikkei Asia, Green and Smart Mobility (GSM) - an electric taxi brand owned by the Chairman of Vingroup, has quickly risen to lead the domestic market after only two years of operation and begun expanding abroad.

Nikkei Asia recently published an analysis of GSM, when billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong's electric taxi brand launched its "Green GSM" taxi service in the Manila metropolitan area (Philippines) with a fleet of 2,500 vehicles. The launch event seemed to have created great attraction when the company's application was downloaded more than 100,000 times in just a few hours, according to GSM General Director Nguyen Van Thanh.

GSM’s platform has many similarities with rivals like Singapore’s Grab, Nikkei Asia reports. However, GSM’s entire fleet is electric, with a distinctive cyan exterior. The company also employs professional drivers to improve the quality of its driving services and customer experience.

GSM will start providing taxi services in Vietnam from April 2023. The Philippines is the third country that GSM has expanded to, after Laos and Indonesia.

Notably, Nikkei Asia cited a report from market research firm Mordor Intelligence showing that GSM accounted for nearly 40% of the market share in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2025, surpassing Grab’s 36% to take the lead. This rapid growth is believed to be the main reason why Indonesian “giant” Gojek withdrew from the Vietnamese market last year.

“Electric cars do not smell of gasoline or have engine noise,” Asia’s leading newspaper quoted the GSM CEO as explaining. In addition, GSM’s electric car fleet is also considered new and spacious.

In addition, according to the assessment, electric vehicles also have a cost advantage over gasoline vehicles. Specifically, fuel costs for electric vehicles are 55% to 60% lower, and maintenance costs are reduced by 50% to 60% compared to gasoline vehicles.

In particular, Nikkei Asia pointed out that one of GSM's biggest strengths is its collaboration with companies in the same Vingroup ecosystem. GSM's cars are manufactured by VinFast - the best-selling car brand in Vietnam, surpassing Toyota.

Meanwhile, the charging stations are provided by V-GREEN. Lack of charging stations is often a major barrier to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, but V-GREEN has built a network of about 150,000 charging ports dedicated to VinFast vehicles in Vietnam.

According to Nikkei Asia

Source: https://baodanang.vn/kinhte/202506/nikkei-asia-dich-vu-taxi-dien-cua-gsm-dan-dau-viet-nam-mo-rong-sang-philippines-4009942/