Construction of VinFast’s $4 billion manufacturing plant in Moncure is still scheduled to begin operation by the end of 2025, the Vietnamese electric vehicle producer said Wednesday in its first-quarter earnings call.
The automaker originally scheduled operation to begin at the end of 2024, but administrative tasks led VinFast to postpone the beginning of operation until 2025.
North Carolina made a significant investment to attract VinFast, including $450 million in state appropriation funds to prepare the site and water and sewer infrastructure.
“North Carolina is still ongoing,” said CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy, on the call. “We’re still on track to start the operation by the end of next year, start hiring in a lot of workers and putting in operations by the end of next year. But probably the full operation will take a couple of months.”
A story in The (Raleigh) News & Observer on Wednesday reported that VinFast plans for a smaller plant and that no construction has begun.
VinFast also announced that it added 10 U.S. dealership agreements in addition to its six pre-existing agreements.
VinFast’s addition of more dealerships will be key to pushing the company’s product, as net inventories makeup 57% of the company’s current assets. That’s 30% higher than Tesla, 33% higher than Ferrari, and 34% higher than Honda.
VinFast’s stock was down 11% Wednesday afternoon after its earnings call. It closed at $2.72, down 35 cents.
Moncure is in Chatham County, with reasonable commutes to the Triangle and Triad. Chatham County touts a 3.1% unemployment rate, good enough for No. 5 lowest in the state, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce. VinFast’s plant is expected to add 7,500 jobs.
The county’s median household income is $84,22, according to the most recent American Community Survey data. The average annual salary for jobs at the VinFast plant will be $51,096.
