Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker Vinfast to build US$2b North Carolina plant

[HANOI] Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast said it will start building a factory in North Carolina this year, ahead of a planned US initial public offering (IPO).

The plant, with an investment of as much as US$2 billion, will be located in Chatham County's Triangle Innovation Point, chief executive officer Le Thi Thu Thuy said in an emailed statement. It is expected to be operational in the second half of 2024.

"We have started the design and are rushing to finalise the factory construction plan and target to start production from July 2024," she said.

The facility will have capacity to produce 150,000 electric cars a year, and will also make electric buses and batteries, Thuy said. It will be VinFast's second vehicle factory after its one in the northern Vietnam port city of Haiphong. The company expects to begin production at its battery plant in the central province of Ha Tinh at the end of this year, she said.

The North Carolina factory is the first phase of a planned complex in the US that Thuy said in November would have a total investment of as much as US$6 billion. She didn't disclose the location at the time.

VinFast aims to start delivering cars in the US, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands in late 2022. Prices for its VF8 and VF9 electric SUVs will range from US$41,000 to US$61,000. VinFast began domestic deliveries of its first electric cars in December.

Thuy, who is also vice-chairwoman of VinFast parent Vingroup JSC, has said the company aims to sell a total of about 700,000 to 1 million EVs within 5 to 6 years. VinFast has received 50,000 orders globally for its VF8 and VF9 models, she said.

The target is ambitious compared with other, more established automakers. Chinese EV startup Nio only celebrated its 100,000th vehicle off the production line in April 2021 after almost 3 years.

Founded by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, VinFast began delivering petrol-powered automobiles with BMW-licensed engines to Vietnamese consumers in 2019. It has said it will stop making petrol-powered cars by the end of this year. VinFast sold 35,723 gasoline vehicles in Vietnam last year, according to the company. It sold about 30,000 in 2020.

VinFast has said it is working with investment banks to prepare for an IPO that would make it one of the first Vietnamese companies to be traded in the US. BLOOMBERG