VinFast announced July 28 it has officially broken ground at its electric vehicle manufacturing site, located within the Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County, NC. The groundbreaking ceremony, which took place July 28 at the site, marked a significant milestone toward VinFast's global expansion and the company's supply chain development in North America.
VinFast's U.S. factory project is the first electric vehicle manufacturing facility in North Carolina, as well as the largest economic development initiative in the state's history.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Nguyen Quoc Dung and representatives from state and federal governments attended the event along with a gathering of VinFast's partners, customers, industry experts and journalists.
The plant, which has a Phase 1 total investment of up to $2 billion, spans an area of approximately 1,800 acres and is divided into five main production areas, including a body shop, general assembly, press shop, paint shop and an energy center. There will also be other functional facilities on the factory premises.
In the initial phase, the factory will focus on building VinFast's VF 7, VF 8 and VF 9 electric vehicles with an expected production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year. The supplier base for components and materials will be primarily concentrated in the U.S., Vietnam and a few other countries. Future expansion and updates for the factory will be identified in the next phase.
Currently, VinFast has appointed Clayco as the general contractor and construction management company to lead the project and will begin the bidding process to select subcontractors soon.
"North Carolina's skilled and diverse workforce is our greatest strength, and we have the largest manufacturing workforce in the Southeast," said Cooper. "This VinFast factory will create thousands of good-paying jobs in our state, along with a healthier environment as more electric vehicles take to the road."
"Today's event marks a new milestone for VinFast, affirming our commitment to the North American market," said Madam Le Thi Thu Thuy, CEO of VinFast, during the ceremony. "Not only will this project create thousands of jobs and contribute to North Carolina's economic development, but VinFast's electric vehicles produced here will also bring additional economic benefits to consumers. We also look forward to contributing to the development of the North Carolina community---our second home---during the production and business operation here."
The VinFast electric vehicle manufacturing plant is expected to commence production in 2025, creating an ecosystem of suppliers and thousands of jobs.
The manufacturing complex, VinFast's first electric vehicle factory outside of Vietnam, will also play an important role as the company strives to reach world-class levels of sustainable mobility on a global scale.
Source: VinFast
Abby Andrews