VinFast, the ambitious Vietnamese manufacturer of electric vehicles, says it’s ready to break ground on a $2 billion assembly and battery-plant complex in North Carolina later this year as it moves into U.S. market.
VinFast will establish a manufacturing center in Chatham County’s Triangle Innovation Point covering more than 2,000 acres (809 ha), with room for the production of electric cars and buses as well as EV batteries for suppliers.
The first phase of construction will start this year after a building permit is granted and vehicle production is expected to launch in July 2024. Initial capacity is expected to be 150,000 vehicles per year.
Vehicles to be produced at the site initially will be the VinFast VF 9 (pictured, left), a 7-passenger SUV, and the VinFast VF 8, a 5-passenger midsize CUV.
“North Carolina is quickly becoming the center of our country’s emerging clean-energy economy,” says North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. “VinFast’s transformative project will bring many good jobs to our state, along with a healthier environment as more electric vehicles take to the road to help us reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.”
Toyota plans to build a $1.3 billion battery plant near Greensboro, NC, which will service the fleet of EVs the automaker plans to launch in the U.S. in the next few years. General Motors is placing a new unit that builds vehicles for the Defense Dept. in Concord, NC, not far from Charlotte, home to a cluster of companies developing cars for NASCAR and other racing series.
Says North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders, “I’m so pleased that VinFast has decided to launch their North America manufacturing operations from our state, and we’ll work hard to make sure they find the skilled workforce they’ll need to grow and thrive in North Carolina.”
“Having a production facility right in the (U.S.) market will help VinFast to proactively manage its supply chain, maintain stabilized prices and shorten product supply time, making VinFast’s EVs more accessible to customers, contributing to the realization of local environmental improvement goals,” adds Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast Global CEO.
Founded in 2017, VinFast intends to rival Tesla and EV startups such as Rivian, Lucid and Nio as a global producer of premium automobiles. The Hanoi-based automaker completed the construction of its state-of-the-art production facility in Haiphong, Vietnam, and developed its first three car models in just 21 months. That plant will have annual production capacity of 950,000 vehicles by 2026.
The company introduced the VF 8 and VF 9 in December at the Los Angeles auto show (pictured, below) and unveiled three more EVs, the VF 5, VF 6 and VF 7, in January at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Vinfast plans to open 60 U.S. showrooms this year.
Vinfast is collaborating with Italian studio Pininfarina and Canadian supplier Magna on vehicle designs and engineering, respectively.
VinFast operates in Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands in addition to the U.S. In its home market, VinFast produces e-scooters, electric buses, charging station systems and green energy solutions in addition to EVs.
