March 29, 2024

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VinFast Automotive selects NC for first electric vehicle assembly plant

Company to create 7,500 jobs at Chatham County’s Triangle Innovation Point Megasite
(Photo: Pexels)

Raleigh, N.C. (WWAY) – VinFast, the Vietnamese auto manufacturer building a new line of electric vehicles, has selected North Carolina for its first North American automotive assembly and battery manufacturing plant, creating 7,500 jobs, Governor Roy Cooper and Vingroup Vice Chair and VinFast Global CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy announced today during an event at the new Raleigh Convention Center.

The company intends to invest up to $2 billion in phase 1 of its project at the Triangle Innovation Point megasite in Chatham County. This will be North Carolina’s first car manufacturing plant and it is the largest economic development announcement in the state’s history.

“North Carolina is quickly becoming the center of our country’s emerging, clean energy economy,” said Governor Cooper. “VinFast’s transformative project will bring many good jobs to our state, along with a healthier environment as more electric vehicles take to the road to help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

VinFast’s factory will create a major manufacturing center on a 1,977 acre (800 hectare) plot for phase 1 with 3 main areas: electric cars and buses production and assembly, EVs batteries production, and ancillary industries for suppliers.

Construction for phase 1 of the factory will start in 2022 after the construction permit is granted and production is expected to start in July 2024. The capacity of phase 1 is expected to be 150,000 vehicle/year.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce coordinated the state’s recruitment of VinFast, which also involved state, regional, and local organizations.

“Automotive assembly plants are incredible engines for economic growth, due to the positive ripple effects they create across a region’s economy,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “I’m so pleased that VinFast has decided to launch their North America manufacturing operations from our state, and we’ll work hard to make sure they find the skilled workforce they’ll need to grow and thrive in North Carolina.”

VinFast, founded in 2017 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, is a global producer of premium automobiles. Headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam, with a state-of-the-art vehicle production facility in Hai Phong, Vietnam, that has the capacity to produce 950,000 vehicles per year by 2026.

VinFast has established global operations in the US, Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands. VinFast currently provides an ecosystem of EV products in its home country of Vietnam, including e-scooters, electric buses and electric cars, charging station system and green energy solutions.

Partnering with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the North Carolina Departments of Transportation and Environmental Quality, the North Carolina State Ports Authority, the North Carolina Railroad Company, the GoldenLEAF Foundation, the Triangle J Council of Governments, Duke Energy, Dominion Energy, CSX, Chatham County, the City of Sanford, and the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation.