Here are your FOX Business Flash top headlines for March 29th.
A Vietnamese automaker on Tuesday announced plans to build a plant in North Carolina to make electric vehicles, promising to create 7,500 jobs and end the string of near misses for landed automakers.
VinFast will build its first North American facility in Chatham County, southwest of Raleigh, with production expected to begin in 2024. According to the state Department of Commerce, it plans to employ 7,500 people by 2027 with average salaries of $51,000.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICK HERE
“VinFast’s transformative project will bring many good jobs to our state, along with a healthier environment as more electric vehicles hit the streets to help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement.
The company is expected to invest $4 billion to build the facility on nearly 800 acres about 30 minutes’ drive southwest of Raleigh. The plant should be able to produce 150,000 cars per year. The state has agreed to use job development grants to repay $316 million over 32 years if it meets targets for job creation and investment. The state also plans to allocate up to $450 million for site preparation, road improvements, and other infrastructure work.
FORD WILL LAUNCH 7 NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN EUROPE BY 2024 WITH THE SUPPORT OF VOLKSWAGEN
A statement from the state Department of Commerce said the manufacturer considered locations in 12 states before narrowing its search to North Carolina and a location in Savannah, Georgia. release states that the workforce, incentives and site preparation were key factors in his choice.
“North Carolina’s strong commitment to building a clean energy economy, fighting climate change, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation makes it an ideal location for VinFast to develop its world-class, smart, and environmentally friendly electric vehicles,” said Le Thi Thu Thuy, CEO of VinFast Global a statement.
FILE – The VinFast VF e36 will be shown at the AutoMobility LA Auto Show on Thursday, November 18, 2021 in Los Angeles. VinFast on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 announced plans to build a plant in North Carolina to manufacture electric vehicles and promised to bring 7.50 ((AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, file) / AP Newsroom)
The United Auto Workers union plans to organize workers at the new VinFast plant, as well as other electric vehicle and battery factories in the southern states, union president Ray Curry said Tuesday. The union now has funds available to begin organizing efforts, Curry told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.
The union, he said, already has a presence in North Carolina.
“We believe we are the preferred union,” Curry said. “We are the auto workers and our aim would be to represent any auto factory meeting that would take place in the country, particularly electric vehicles that are changing.”
The UAW will also seek to organize Ford and General Motors battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as Tesla and electric vehicle startup Rivian factories. Both have works represented by the union among previous owners. Such campaigns could cost tens of millions of dollars, depending on how long they last, he said.
After a series of disappointments spanning decades, the landing of the auto plant is seen as a major achievement for Cooper, legislative leaders, and business recruiters.
In the early 1990s, North Carolina lost to South Carolina for BMW’s first full-service factory outside of Germany, then later to Alabama, which landed Mercedes-Benz’s SUV plant. Most recently, the state failed in the competition for new Tesla and Rivian Automotive plants.
USPS places $3 billion order for 50,000 new delivery vehicles, including 10,000 electric trucks
Freightliner already operates truck manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, and Volvo Trucks’ North American headquarters is in Greensboro.
The acquisition of the VinFast facility is the latest in a series of significant commercial achievements for the state over the past 12 months.
Apple announced last April that it would build its first East Coast campus at Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham and create 3,000 new jobs over the next decade.
Toyota announced in December that it will build a $1.3 billion battery plant near Greensboro that will employ at least 1,750 people and help fulfill the automaker’s plans to expand electric vehicle sales in the United States to increase drastically in the USA
PRODUCTION OF THE ELECTRIC CADILLAC LYRIQ BEGINS IN TENNESSEE AHEAD OF DELIVERY IN MAY
And Boom Supersonic announced in January that Greensboro will be home to its first full-fledged manufacturing facility for next-generation supersonic passenger jets. This goes hand in hand with the goal of more than 2,400 new jobs by 2032.
VinFast is part of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, which is providing capital to expand EV sales to the US and eventually Europe. The company already sells vehicles with internal combustion engines and electric drives in Vietnam.
In November, the company unveiled the VF e35 and VF e36 Large mid-size electric SUVs at the Los Angeles Auto Show, but did not announce prices.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
The company’s former chief executive said last year that VinFast plans to start taking orders in the spring and start shipping vehicles to the US in the fall. Originally, the SUVs were supposed to be built in a new factory in Vietnam, but VinFast planned to build a US factory that should start production in the second half of 2024.
VinFast, with US headquarters in Los Angeles, plans to sell vehicles through its own network of stores, with much of the ordering process being handled online. The company already has plans for 60 stores in California alone. There will also be some service centers and a mobile service.