VinFast to Resume Construction of its U.S. Factory in Time for a 2028 Production Start

• Despite mounting losses and reduced EV demand in the U.S., VinFast still aims to open a factory in North Carolina.

• This factory is likely to be much smaller than initially planned, employing an 80% smaller workforce.

• This change of plans could force the automaker to reimburse state and local government investments.

After pausing construction of its first factory on American soil back in 2024, VinFast is ready to pick it back up in time for an expected production start in 2028.

While the Vietnamese automaker had ambitious plans for global expansion when the VF8 electric SUV arrived in North America for the 2023 model year, mounting financial losses and a collapse of EV demand in key markets have forced it to scale back its project.

Indeed, the company put the construction of its first American factory on hold back in 2024, saying it would delay construction for three years.

Despite VinFast having sold 196,919 vehicles globally in 2025, more than double what it sold in 2024, it recorded a net loss of 97.25 trillion dong (about C $5.1 billion), which is 26% higher than the previous year.

For this reason, as well as reports that electric vehicle sales in the United States will continue to decline by a further 16% in 2026, the VinFast factory in North Carolina is expected to be much smaller than initially planned once production starts in 2028.

There are clues to this in the company’s filings with local regulatory bodies, in which it has said the plant will employ about 1,400 workers, or about 80% less than the 7,500 jobs that were initially promised.

Since the automaker had agreed to provide a set number of jobs in exchange for around U.S. $315 million in incentives offered by state and local governments over a period of 32 years.

In fact, VinFast could be forced to reimburse $125 million in site preparation costs to the State of North Carolina if it doesn’t provide at least 3,875 jobs.

In addition, the State could exercise a right to repurchase parts or the entirety of the 1,765-acre site if the company doesn’t meet construction and hiring deadlines, including the requirement to have 1,750 jobs by the end of the current year.

In order to prevent this, VinFast would need to invest at least $500 million in the project’s primary development tract.

Even if it ends up being much smaller than first planned, the American factory will mark a shift in priority for the Vietnamese company, which moved its focus back to its home market and surrounding countries over the last year or two.

Source: Automotive News