Vietnamese electric car manufacturer VinFast has announced plans to build a new electric vehicle (EV) factory in North Carolina.

The plant, situated in Chatham County’s Triangle Innovation Point megasite, will be the automaker’s first production facility in North America. VinFast intends to invest upwards of $2 billion in the project's first phase, said to create thousands of jobs.

Construction on the plant will start sometime in 2022 once proper permits have been secured. The site will cover an area of 800-hectares over 3 main areas: electric cars and buses production and assembly, EV battery production, and ancillary industries of suppliers. Some of the vehicles slated for assembly at the plant include the VinFast VF 8 and VF 9, both electric SUVs.

VinFast Global CEO Madam Le Thi Thu Thuy (Left) shakes hands with North Caroline Governor Roy Cooper (Right).

“North Carolina is quickly becoming the center of our country’s emerging, clean energy economy,” said Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina. “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.”

Production is expected to kick off in July 2024, producing 150,000 vehicles per year during the plant’s first phase. Future phases are yet to be discussed in detail, but VinFast will continue to invest in the factory for future production phases.

This undertaking bolster’s the automaker’s commitment to invest more into the international markets, the United States in particular. Other sites of VinFast operations include Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands.