Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast announced on Saturday that it will delay the launch of its factory in North Carolina. The company said that the decision is a result of uncertainties in the EV market.
VinFast announced in 2022 that it plans to build a plant in Chatham County in an investment worth around $4 billion. It would be VinFast’s first manufacturing location in the US and was set to produce electric cars, buses, and EV batteries while also having ancillary industry sites for suppliers. The production would launch in July 2024 with an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles annually.
However, VinFast has had a challenging year in 2024 and recently decided to cut its annual forecast. Instead of the expected 100,000 cars delivered, the company now plans to deliver 80,000 units.
The launch of the North Carolina plant is now scheduled for 2028, with VinFast saying that the decision will “allow the company to optimize its capital allocation and manage its short-term spending more effectively.”
“While the second-quarter delivery results were encouraging, ongoing economic headwinds and uncertainties in different macro-economies and (the) global EV landscape necessitate a more prudent outlook for the rest of the year,” VinFast added in a statement.