As the EV market continues to heat up, more and more companies are looking to the U.S. to set up manufacturing. One such company is Vietnamese automaker VinFast, which announced on Tuesday its plans to invest in its first American facility.
As part of the announcement, VinFast revealed they signed a preliminary deal to initially invest $2 billion to build a factory in North Carolina. This new facility will be used to make electric buses and SUVs, along with batteries for EVs. Eventually, VinFast plans to get its investment up to $4 billion.
Construction is expected to begin this year as soon as the company gets the necessary permits, and it’s expected to be finished by July 2024. The plant’s initial capacity will be 150,000 units per year, according to Vinfast.
“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,” said Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup vice-chair and VinFast Global CEO.
President Biden said the VinFast investment, which 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.” President Biden’s administration has 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. VinFast has already begun taking pre-orders globally for two electric SUVs with a goal to begin delivering them in the fourth quarter. Currently, the company is targeting 42,000 EV sales for this year.
