Communist State Conglomerate VinFast Wants To Build A Car Battery Factory In The US

JAKARTA - Vietnamese automaker VinFast plans to build an electric vehicle battery cell factory and packaging it in a manufacturing complex in the US. This was explained by its global chief executive to Reuters, Wednesday, January 5 during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

VinFast, part of Vingroup JSC, the largest conglomerate in the Communist Party-ruled country, previously said it plans to start producing electric vehicles in the United States in the second half of 2024.

VinFast is betting on the US market, where it plans to launch an affordable electric sports vehicle later this year with its battery rental model.

"We will also build our gigafactory in the US," said Le Thi Thu Thuy, vice chairman of Vingroup and CEO of VinFast Global, as quoted by Reuters. The company will also continue to manufacture batteries from its suppliers during this time.

According to Le Thi Thu Thuy, they will initially assemble the battery pack with cells sourced from its suppliers at the factory complex in the US before starting its own production there.

"We've narrowed down more than we thought, more than 50 areas to about three," he said during a visit to the US for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

He will visit several areas during his trip before making a decision this year, adding that the "large area" will also include an electric bus factory.

In December, Vingroup said it had started building a battery cell factory in Vietnam so that Vinfast could own its battery supply chain. The company initially wanted to produce 100,000 battery packs per year with an investment of 174 million US dollars and then increase the capacity to one million.

VinFast became Vietnam's first domestic carmaker when gasoline-powered models built under its own badge went on sale in 2019. VinFast started selling EVs in Vietnam at the end of 2021.