Hyunjoo Jin, Phuong Naguyen

HANOI/SAN FRANCISCO – VinFast Vietnam, a Vietnamese automaker said Tuesday that it signed a preliminary contract to first invest $2B to construct a North Carolina factory to produce electric buses and other sport utility vehicles (SUVs), as well as batteries for EVs.

Vingroup is Vietnam’s largest conglomerate and the company that runs it stated its plans for a $4 billion investment in America’s first factory complex.

Construction will begin in the coming year, once permits are granted by Vinfast. It is anticipated that it will be completed by July 2024. Vinfast indicated that 150,000 units will be the initial plant capacity.

VinFast Global CEO Nguyen Thu Thu Thuy stated that VinFast Global vice-chair and Vingroup vice chairman, can help stabilize the prices of EVs and cut down on product delivery times.

VinFast is now accepting pre-orders worldwide for two electric SUVs, with the goal of delivering them by the fourth quarter.

U.S. President Joe Biden stated that VinFast’s investment will generate more than 7,000 new jobs and is the latest example of his economic strategy.

Biden stated that it builds upon recent announcements by companies such as GM, Ford and Siemens to invest again in America and create jobs. He also set a lofty goal of halving the number of electric cars sold each year.

This will be North Carolina’s first car plant and it is the largest economic development announcement in the state’s history, the governor’s office said in a statement.

VinFast stated that prices for the VF8 SUV sport vehicle started at $41,000 in America. An SUV from Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 sells at around $63,000. VinFast aims to sell 42,000 electric vehicles globally this year.

PRODUCTION IS TOUGH

VinFast has big plans for the U.S., hoping to be able to compete against legacy automakers as well as startups offering affordable electric SUVs with a leasing option.

Rivian, Lucid and other electric vehicle startup have also slashed production targets due to disruptions in supply chains caused by the coronavirus. This has resulted in a drop in share prices.

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, said that last year it was impossible to attain volume production at an acceptable unit price.

VinFast is Vietnam’s only fully-fledged domestic auto manufacturer. It intends to move to all electric vehicle production in the latter part of 2022.

It stated in January that the company was looking for a plant to expand its operations outside North America.