Vietnam's Vinfast to build it’s first Electric Vehicle Factory in U.S at $4 Billion

Vietnam's automaker VinFast said on Tuesday it has recently signed a preliminary deal to initially invest $2 billion to build a factory in North Carolina to make electric buses, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) along with batteries for EVs. The unit of Vietnam's biggest conglomerate Vingroup, said it plans to have a total investment of $4 billion in its first U.S. factory complex.

Vinfast said in a statement that the construction should begin this year as soon as the company gets necessary permits, and is expected to finish by July 2024. The plant's initial capacity will be 150,000 units per year.

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup vice chair and VinFast Global CEO said, "With a manufacturing facility right in the U.S. market, VinFast can stabilize prices and shorten product delivery time, making our EVs more accessible to customers."

Reuters reported that VinFast has begun taking pre-orders globally for two electric SUVs with a goal to begin delivering them in the fourth quarter.

U.S. President Joe Biden also said that the VinFast investment will create more than 7,000 jobs, is "the latest example of my economic strategy at work." "It builds on recent announcements from companies like GM, Ford, and Siemens to invest in America again and create jobs, said Biden, who set an ambitious goal for half of new car sales to be electric by 2030.

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.

Reuters reported that the VinFast prices for its VF8 sport SUV started from $41,000 in the United States. By comparison, a Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) SUV sells for around $63,000. VinFast is targeting global electric vehicle sales of 42,000 this year.

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