It’s a bold and risky bet, but it sends a clear message to local vehicle manufacturers: The cards for America’s electric vehicle market aren’t fully distributed yet. There are still seats to be taken (and cards still to be dropped).
Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast has decided to challenge Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc. report, Ford (f) – Get the Ford Motor Company Report, GM (GM) – Get General Motors Company Report, Rivian (RIVN) – Get Rivian Automotive, Inc. Class A Report and Lucid Group (LCID) – Get a report from Lucid Group, Inc. on American soil. VinFast will build a factory in North Carolina this year.
This manufacturing facility will be located at Chatham County’s Triangle Innovation Point megasite and will cover an area of 800 acres with three main areas: electric car and bus production and assembly, electric vehicle battery production and ancillary industries for suppliers, the company said in a press release.
Construction of the site will begin after receiving the necessary permit, says VinFast, which hopes to start producing cars there in July 2024. The initial capacity is expected to be 150,000 vehicles per year.
The group will initially invest $2 billion to sell cars to Americans.
VinFast will create thousands of jobs
“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, Vingroup Vice Chairman and VinFast Global CEO.
“Having a manufacturing facility directly on the market will help VinFast to proactively manage its supply chain, maintain stable prices and reduce product delivery time, making VinFast’s Evs more accessible to customers and contributing to the achievement of local environmental improvement goals.”
However, electric vehicle manufacturers who have tried to enter the American market by setting up factories there in recent years have either failed or abandoned much of their ambition.
Such is the case with Fisker Automotive (FSR) – Fisker Inc received Class A Report, which had to file for bankruptcy after the collapse of its battery supplier. Smart Faraday Future (FFIE) – Get Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. report, released to great fanfare in 2014, is currently mired in investigations into statements by its executives. The group has not yet succeeded in bringing a vehicle onto the market. Faraday also sold land that was purchased in Nevada, where the automaker planned to build a factory.
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Headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam, VinFast was founded in 2017 and claims to be a global manufacturer of premium automobiles. North Carolina will be the second plant, the other is a vehicle manufacturing facility in Haiphong, Vietnam, which the company says will have the capacity to produce 950,000 vehicles per year by 2026.
VinFast has also set up offices in Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands. According to a press release, the company currently offers an ecosystem of EV products in its home country of Vietnam, including e-scooters, electric buses, electric cars, charging station systems and green energy solutions.
US President Joe Biden welcomed VinFast’s investment on Twitter, saying it would create more than 7,000 jobs.
VinFast plans to go public in the USA
“Today, VinFast announced it will build a $4 billion electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina to create more than 7,000 jobs. It’s the latest example of my economic strategy at work.
Vehicles to be produced at the North Carolina facility include the VinFast VF 9, a 7-passenger all-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) and the VinFast VF 8, a 5-passenger all-electric midsize SUV.
The starting price for the VF 8 with a range of 316.9 miles is $41,000, while the starting price for the VF 9 (422.5 miles) is $56,000.
“All early bookings are eligible for a refund, gift or transfer starting April 6, 2022,” the company said in January.
The group delivered the first produced cars to its Vietnamese customers in December. It aims to sell a total of about 700,000 to 1 million electric vehicles within five to six years, Thuy told Bloomberg. VinFast has received 50,000 orders for its VF 8 and VF 9 models worldwide.
VinFast is also working with investment banks including JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank to prepare for a US IPO. If the company completes this latest project, it would be one of the first Vietnamese companies to be traded in an American market. The company is interested in a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) for a US listing.