VinFast: A Vietnamese private automotive company
VinFast
Exported to the USA
VinFast,
a Vietnamese manufacturer of electric vehicles, announced on Friday that it has
transported its first shipment of 999 vehicles to the United States, completing
a five-year effort to establish an auto production hub in the Southeast Asian
nation for markets in North America and Europe and the first vehicles should be
delivered to clients by the end of December.
Some of the VF
8 electric SUVs being transported on Friday will go to the American
car-subscription service Autonomy, according to VinFast Chief Executive Le Thi
Thu Thuy, but the rest will go to retail customers who have ordered the
vehicle. VinFast’s first export market, the United States, will receive a
second batch of vehicles sometime in January, according to Thuy.
Manufacturing Facility in North Carolina
In North
Carolina, VinFast is constructing an electric vehicle manufacturing facility
while awaiting final regulatory certification from local authorities. According
to Thuy, the business anticipates beginning production at the North Carolina
facility in July 2024, and electric vehicles produced there will be eligible
for subsidies under the conditions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was
approved by American President Joe Biden.
According to
the Inflation Reduction Act, as it stands now, manufacturers must source 50% of
the crucial materials used in EV batteries from North America or U.S. allies by
2024 and increase that number to 80% by the end of 2026. The targets, according
to major manufacturers, are unattainable, and it wasn’t immediately obvious how
VinFast would satisfy the sourcing standards.
The IRA
surprised us all, but it has little effect on our approach in the United
States, Thuy said Reuters. “Our customers will be qualified (for) the tax
credit) as soon as we start manufacturing automobiles in the U.S.,” the company
said. VinFast reported last week that Autonomy had placed its largest corporate
order to date—2,500 electric vehicles—with them. According to VinFast, it has
almost 65,000 orders worldwide and anticipates selling 750,000 EVs annually by
2026. Based on the company’s initial expectations, the North Carolina factory
project is months behind schedule, and VinFast’s maiden shipment of EVs fell
short of the planned target to deliver as many as 5,000 vehicles produced at
its factory in Haiphong by December.
Lucky Number 999
According to
representatives of VinFast, the number 999 was picked for the initial batch of
vehicles transported because it is lucky in Vietnam. There isn’t a luckier
number than 999, according to Thuy. Up to 2,000 vehicles could have been
transported on the cargo ship rented by Panama that was used to bring the first
batch of VinFast EVs, according to officials. On Friday morning, shares of
Vingroup, the listed parent company of VinFast and a developer of hotels and
real estate, rose 5.41%.
Courtesy
REUTERS