The production facility in North Carolina is still delayed.
The billionnaire behind VinFast already lost close to three billion dollars.
Consumers who reserved one of the two VinFast vehicles lately may have reason to be concerned after reading this. Automotive News Europe has indeed discovered that Pham Nhat Vuong, the billionaire and chairman of Vingroup, the conglomerate behind VinFast and several other companies in several fields, has no plans to invest more money in his car brand.
Let’s recall that VinFast laid off a few employees in North America recently, while the construction of the production plant in North Carolina has also been delayed. Construction of the complex, which was to assemble the brand’s electric SUVs for the continent, was supposed to begin last September.
According to Bloomberg News, VinFast’s CEO said that Mr. Vuong has no plans to invest more money in VinFast. It is worth mentioning that the financial losses for the billionaire amount to $1.3 billion in 2021 and $1.5 billion in the first nine months of 2022. This information was obtained in a document from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The document also revealed that VinFast planned to absorb further financial losses in the near term.
2023 VinFast VF 8 | Photo: VinFast
The site for the assembly plant in North Carolina has been cleared, with VinFast seeking to finalize permits to begin construction of the the plant. According to VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy, the plan to begin production of the two first models by the end of 2024 is still on the table.
And the manufacturer has every interest in building this plant quickly so that its vehicles sold on U.S. soil can be eligible for the financial incentive ($7,500) from Joe Biden’s administration, the U.S. President who has made it one of his pet projects.
To ensure a certain distribution of its new electric utility vehicles – VinFast will first market the VF 8 and VF 9 models – the manufacturer will assemble the vehicles at its Vietnamese plant in Haiphong. Several deliveries have already been delayed.
But these teething troubles are not surprising for such a young automaker in VinFast, whose founding dates back only to 2017. After all, Tesla has only been profitable for a few years. VinFast will likely have to mop up more financial losses before it turns a profit.
