A fast-growing electric vehicle maker from Southeast Asia has hit a snag. VinFast is a Vietnamese company that plans to build a plant in the United States — but probably not on the timeline it would prefer.
About two years ago, President Biden talked about VinFast as the latest global success story in electric vehicles —one that would bring more than 7,000 jobs to the U.S.
The Vietnamese company planned to invest $4 billion to build an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
The factory was to be completed by this coming July. However, that start date has been pushed to next year.
And now another delay may be coming, according to Reuters, which quoted a person briefed on the matter.
The company will only say it's “conducting a thorough review and evaluation of all aspects of the construction process for our North Carolina factory.”
Sales of VinFast cars have not grown as rapidly as the company had projected.
Global sales were fewer than 35,000 last year, mostly in Vietnam.
The U.S. market has been a struggle.
Reuters cited EV registration data showing that while more than 3,000 VinFast vehicles have been shipped to the U.S., fewer than 300 were sold by the end of last year.
Still, VinFast is publicly sticking with an expansion strategy. The company recently confirmed plans to build an assembly plant in Indonesia and another in India by 2026.
