HCMC – Vietnamese automaker VinFast has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of North Carolina in the United States to develop its first electric vehicle (EV) factory in North America, which has been hailed by U.S. President Joe Biden.
President Joe Biden said in a statement posted on the White House website on March 29: “Today’s announcement that the electric vehicle maker VinFast will build an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina – $4 billion to create more than 7,000 jobs and hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and batteries – is the latest example of my economic strategy at work.”
The factory will cover some 800 hectares in the Triangle Innovation Point industrial park in Chatham County. There will be three main areas: electric car and bus production and assembly, EV battery production, and ancillary industries for suppliers, the local media reported.
Work on the first phase of the project will start this year after VinFast receives a construction license, and the factory is expected to be operational in July 2024. Phase one will need US$2 billion.
In this phase, the factory will produce 150,000 vehicles per year. The first vehicles will be VF9, a seven-seater sport utility vehicle (SUV), and VF8, a five-seater SUV.
VinFast will continue to invest in the factory in the future.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said the project would create jobs in the state and contribute to reducing greenhouse gases.
Developing a clean energy economy is a priority for North Carolina.
According to North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders, auto assembly factories could spur economic growth. The state will assist VinFast in hiring high-skilled workers.
Explaining the decision to choose North Carolina to build its EV factory, Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup Vice Chair and VinFast Global CEO, said North Carolina’s vision to develop clean energy, fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gases in transport matched VinFast’s orientations to manufacture high-end, smart and ecofriendly electric vehicles.
Developing the factory there will help VinFast stabilize its products’ prices, shorten the production time and access customers.
Thuy said the project was part of its development plan in the United States and other international markets. Earlier, VinFast made its first presence in Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
