VinFast is aiming to be a big player in the electric vehicle (EV) space, with company CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy recently telling Nikkei Asia that the goal is to sell one million EVs globally in five to six years.
The Vietnamese carmaker has been busy putting all the pieces in place to achieve its goal, as back in March this year, the company announced that it will establish a new EV plant based in the United States. As of July 14, the company said it had received a USD1.2 billion (RM5.346 billion) incentive package from the state of North Carolina.
As part of the first phase, VinFast will be investing about USD2 billion (RM8.91 billion) to set up the manufacturing facility located at the Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County. Construction will begin in the second half of this year, with production expected to commence from July 2024.
When ready, the plant will cover an area of 2,000 acres and will feature two main areas: one for producing electric cars and buses, while the other is for ancillary industries for suppliers. The company says the factory is designed to reach a capacity of 150,000 vehicles yearly.
VinFast also announced on the same day it received the incentive package that it had opened the first six VinFast Stores in California, with 30 more on the way in the state before further expansion across other states in the US. Plans to expand into Europe as well as other markets have also commenced.
To incentivise US customers, the company also announced the VinFast Charge-Up Programme, which is offered to those who reserve a VF8 or VF9 by September 30, 2022. This includes the VinFast Smart Driving Package that enables the free use of the vehicles’ Level 2+ advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and connected services for one-year.
Customers also get to choose from two options, with the first being complimentary charging for three years (unlimited session) at Electrify America charging stations. The alternative is a free wallbox charger and a USD1,200 (RM5,346) credit to be applied towards its installation.
Beyond production and sales, VinFast has also invested “ten of millions of USD” in ProLogium, a Taiwanese manufacturer of next-generation solid-state batteries. The partnership will see ProLogium supply solid-state batteries to VinFast starting from 2024 to support its future line-up of EVs.
This new supply chain will complement VinFast’s VinES battery factory in Vung Ang, Ha Tinh, Vietnam, which saw an investment of VND4 trillion (RM763 million) in 2021. This facility sits on eight hectares of land and will produce battery packs and battery cells for VinFast EVs.
Intel is another one of VinFast’s partners, with both announcing in May this year that they would work together on wide range of advanced computing systems including 5G enabled smart city and smart building solutions, smart manufacturing processes, cloud services and AI as well as ADAS based on Mobileye technology.
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Vinfast is truly the real BMW of Asia, not Proton.
Indeed this is a true BMW that only the top M01 of Viets could only afford to buy, versus the alang BMW Proton which even our B40 could easily afford.
In the end what is the point of a national carmaker if majority of their citizen could not even come close? Shiok sendiri?
What is it with Vietnam’s obsession with taking in/building up all these EVs, while they can still count charging stations nationwide and general EV range with one finger, and charging times by more than five minutes?
Go for it VinFast. You are very fast, that even our Proton and Perodua are still selling and promoting legacy ICE engines like hot cakes. Good for them to make monies as Malaysia has half past six ministers whose causing us to be left behind..
They are fast heading towards bankruptcy as well :-/
And what have they sold thus far? Nothing of importance other than rebadged compact cars with small engines. Is it all just smoke and mirrors though?
Vinfast not selling very well in vietnam and probably worse selling unit globally…not even their car look childish but the price nearly closer to BMW, we know Vinfast joinventure with BMW, but this car just a national proud car for a country.. I mean.. Vinfast, vietnam very fast? Also this car hard to maintain compare to japanese car
Last year, Vinfast lost USD1 Billion and sells only 35k cars in total… From 35k to 1 million cars in 5 years? When it’s too good to be true, i know you knowlah…