Vietnamese EV maker VinFast says job cuts won’t derail plans to start U.S. production

Vietnamese electrical automobile maker VinFast advised CNBC it is on observe to start out manufacturing within the U.S. by 2024 regardless that the corporate is slicing its headcount in North America.

Vietnam’s first home automaker beforehand introduced plans to go public within the U.S.

Just this week, VinFast — the automotive arm of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup — introduced it is going to be slicing jobs within the U.S. in a restructuring train that may consolidate its operations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“After last year’s observation, we see a lot of similarity in the two markets and consolidating the two markets will allow us to be stronger and more agile,” stated Le Thi Thu Thuy, VinFast CEO, in an interview with CNBC’s J.P. Ong on Friday.

The news in regards to the job cuts come on the heels of a Reuters report on Feb. 3 that VinFast can be delaying deliveries to its first clients within the U.S.

VinFast shipped its first batch of vehicles to the U.S. in November, which included 999 VF 8s. It had plans to ship them by the top of December however has since delayed shipments to February.

Le advised CNBC on Friday they’ve about 12,000 pre-orders within the U.S.

The automaker has been ramping up its U.S. enlargement to tackle American automakers similar to Tesla and introduced it is going to be organising a manufacturing plant in North Carolina to fabricate EVs.

Le stated the layoffs won’t have an effect on the deliberate timeline for manufacturing to begin at its first North American manufacturing plant.

“We are in the final stages of getting a permit to test the construction but the land has already been cleared. The state has already worked on the infrastructure for the land as well,” she advised CNBC.

“We still plan to start the trial production in 2024 as originally planned,” Le stated. The annual manufacturing capability of the plant is 150,000 electrical autos, based on the corporate’s launch.

The subsequent markets VinFast plans to focus on can be in Europe, particularly Germany, France and the Netherlands, stated the CEO.

However, VinFast autos don’t at the moment qualify for the $7,500 tax credit score within the U.S. as a result of they aren’t constructed within the nation, however are inbuilt Vietnam. Prices for the 2023 VinFast VF 8 mannequin begin from $40,700.

“We immediately accelerated our plan for the North Carolina plant. Luckily, we had already signed that agreement before the Inflation Reduction Act,” Le stated.

“We didn’t see it coming but we always [planned] to have a plant in the U.S. so the IRA increased our manufacturing capability in the U.S. to make sure that our customers will be able to have access to electric vehicles at a reasonable pricing.”

“I believe that in the long run [we are] going to concentrate the manufacturing of electric vehicles as well as the key components of electric vehicles in the U.S.,” Le added.

VinFast filed for an preliminary public providing within the U.S. on Dec. 6. They haven’t disclosed the quantity nor value of the shares to be traded, based on its prospectus. It can be not recognized once they precisely plan to listing.

“We have been watching the intensity of the market and I think this year, the market has been a little bit better. We are ready but we need the market to be more cooperative for us to make the IPO happen,” stated Le.

When requested about when the IPO is predicted to occur, she stated: “When we are ready to talk more about it, we will be happy to share more.”