Last Friday, the Vietnamese car manufacturer held the groundbreaking ceremony of its electric vehicle factory in Chatham County, North Carolina, its first car plant in the US. It should produce 150 000 cars annually in phase 1 and employ some 7 500 workers by 2025.

The planned $4 billion investment was reeled in by North Carolina using the carrot-and-stick method. VinFast was awarded a $1.2 billion incentive package from the State of North Carolina for this project and critical financial support from the City of Sanford, Chatham County, and the Golden Leaf Foundation.

First car plant for North Carolina

For North Carolina, it’s the first big car factory on its territory, unlike its neighbor South Carolina. There are European carmakers like Mercedes-Benz Vans and Volvo Cars, and BMW’s  Spartanburg factory takes the cake employing 11 000 people to manufacture the Group’s X-models.

“For decades, we’ve wanted an automaker in North Carolina, and you know, somebody was looking after us. We were just waiting for that EV market,” North Carolina Governor Cooper said at Friday’s event. It is North Carolina’s largest-ever state-backed economic development project in job creation.

First batch of SUVs for US

Vietnamese car brand VinFast has officially kickstarted its EV offensive by delivering its first batch of 100 VF8 SUV models in September 2022. Even though the event was held in its home country, at its manufacturing site in Haiphong, this marked the brand’s international expansion.

The VF8 and VF9 are designed specifically for non-domestic customers. Both are battery-electric SUVs, but the VF8 is a mid-sized model, with the VF9 as the larger flagship. Unlike the Chinese EV brands, Vinfast intended to launch simultaneously in Europa, Canada, and the United States.

VinFast’s first shipment of 999 VF 8 midsize SUVs departed Vietnam for the United States in November last year. It announced then it was forced to delay the European launch of the VF8 and VF9 electric SUVs to early 2023 due to global semiconductor shortage.

Smaller VF6 and VF7

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas beginning this year, VinFast specified the VF6 and VF7, their new B and C segment electric cars. The smallest one is the VF6. At 4,29 meters in length, one could compare it to a VW ID.3, with a width of 1,82 meters and a height of 1,59 meters.

A 130 kW e-motor with 250 Nm torque drives the front wheels, making 399 kilometers possible (according to WLTP standards). The VF 6 Plus is slightly more powerful, with 150 kW and 310 Nm.

The VF 7 is 4,55 meters long, with a wheelbase of 2,84 meters, 1,89 meters wide, and 1,64 meters high. To stay with the same comparison, it is comparable to a VW ID.4. It has an electric all-wheel drive with two e-motors, delivering 260 kW and 500 Nm at their expected peak. The range is 431 kilometers.

But since then, despite an extensive list of VinFast stores spread across Europe, including Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and the possibility of making a reservation for buying a car, it’s not clear yet when the Vietnamese will deliver in Europe, as the website only mentions ‘end of 2023’.