- Vinfast postpones electric car production in the US for three years
- Vinfast lowers production target for 2024
- Vinfast still lags behind sales target despite changing sales model
Vinfast announced a factory in North Carolina on Saturday. will be delayedand lowered its annual delivery target for 2024.
In a press release discussing it Q2 financial resultsVinfast said the plant will begin producing vehicles in 2028, rather than 2025, as the automaker said in its latest update on the project. Construction at the 2,000-acre site in Chatham County, near the state capital of Raleigh, was reportedly halted earlier this year.
“This decision will allow the company to optimize capital allocation and manage short-term expenses more effectively,” the release said.
Vinfast VF9
Announced in 2022, the factory has brought Vinfast a $1.2 billion incentive package from North Carolina, which the automaker said at the time would complement its own $2 billion investment in the first phase of construction. Vinfast initially said the factory would open in 2024, but told shareholders earlier this year that it was aiming to complete the plant by 2025, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles.
In the same release, Vinfast said it is now targeting deliveries of 80,000 vehicles this year, down from its previous target of 100,000. The automaker reported 21,747 deliveries in the first half of 2024, with 12,058 in the second quarter. The automaker still has a long way to go to reach the lower target, which would still be a big increase from the 34,855 vehicles Vinfast delivered in 2023.
VinFast VF 3
Vinfast seems to be falling behind on sales targets earlier this year, even though it Add US Dealer Franchise in a continuing shift away from the direct sales model pioneered by Tesla and adopted by other promising EV companies like Lucid and Rivian. As of April, the automaker had 18 franchised dealerships in seven states, plus 15 company-owned stores and service centers in California, the country’s largest EV market.
of Vinfast sole provider for the US is the VF 8 electric SUV. VF 8 first drive last year, which made us warn that it simply wasn’t ready. A follow-up, the three-row Vinfast VF 9, has been officially rated at 330 miles of EPA range, but deliveries have yet to begin. Vinfast has also shown a number of smaller crossovers, as well as a pickup truck, in concept form, and has begun taking reservations for the VF 3 mini-SUV.
