VinFast then and now: Carmaker will be the biggest, fastest development in NC history

North Carolina had a week to win over VinFast.

After months of periodic exchanges, the little-known Vietnamese carmaker reengaged the state in late February 2022 about building its first foreign factory, a $4 billion vehicle and battery plant, on an undeveloped megasite in Eastern Chatham County.

At the time, VinFast was also vetting a competing site near Savannah, Georgia. Through the consulting firm JLL, the company informed North Carolina officials on Feb. 26 it would pick its preferred finalist by the end of the following week. As JLL prepared to send a due diligence team, N.C. Department of Commerce staff braced for an unprecedented few days.

“To say this is a daunting challenge is a gross understatement,” then-Senior Assistant Secretary of Finance David Spratley told colleagues in an email the next day. “It is unlike anything I have ever seen.”

Owned by the wealthiest person in Vietnam, VinFast approached the Tar Heel State with seemingly bottomless pockets and equally deep ambitions. For North Carolina, VinFast represented the largest publicly backed economic initiative in state history.

Commerce Department staff had to condense months of work, including drafting an incentive package, outlining permit requirements, coordinating future job training options, and mapping out the costs of strengthening surrounding road, rail, water and sewer infrastructure.

‘Moving at light speed’

VinFast also alerted officials it hoped to open the facility within two years.

Spratley, who has since left the Commerce Department, recalls those few days of preparation “vividly.”

“What was a lot different about this is that when (VinFast) came back, they wanted to be moving very quickly,” he said.

Or, as Spratley wrote to an adviser to Gov. Roy Cooper that week: “This project is moving at light speed.”

On March 29, 2022, a little more than a month after VinFast sent North Carolina officials into overdrive, company executives joined state leaders in Chatham to celebrate North Carolina’s winning bid.

Since forming six years ago, VinFast has operated at a unique velocity.

As recently as 2020, the company exclusively sold gas-powered cars in its home country. Now, its objective is to deliver hundreds of thousands of electric SUVs to drivers worldwide.

From embracing electric vehicles to obtaining permits to launching its U.S. megasite, the company has continuously prioritized an aggressive pace. As Chatham site construction begins, The News & Observer takes a look at how VinFast got here, where it hopes to go — and how it quickly intends to get there.

Key moments in VinFast’s early years

2017 — Vingroup, a conglomerate owned by Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, launches an automobile division. Named VinFast, it joins Vingroup’s many other subsidiaries such as Vinmart, Vinhomes and Vinschools.

2019 — VinFast sells 19,400 gas-powered cars in Vietnam.

2020 — The carmaker loses $284 million over the first half of the year. Vuong says more losses are anticipated across the next three to five years as VinFast strives to expand its market share.

2020 — VinFast increases its domestic sales of gas-powered vehicles to 31,500.

2021 — VinFast begins selling electric vehicles in Vietnam and announces it will cease production of gas-powered cars by the end of 2022.

October 2021 — The automaker starts its search for a place to build a U.S. manufacturing and assembly plant, nicknaming the prospective site Project Blue. It initially vets 29 sites in 12 states.

October 2021 — Site consultants with the firm JLL present Project Blue to North Carolina officials, who learn Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County, near the small town of Moncure, is a candidate for VinFast’s first foreign manufacturing plant.

December 2021 — VinFast ends the year with $1.3 billion in net losses.

2022: Project Blue in North Carolina

Jan. 12 — Four senior VinFast representatives and three JLL consultants visit the Chatham County site.

Feb. 26 — VinFast reaches back out to North Carolina officials about Project Blue, saying Chatham County is one of two finalists for the plant. “This project is moving at light speed,” David Spratley, the state Commerce Department’s senior assistant secretary of finance, tells an adviser to Gov. Cooper two days later.

March 29 — VinFast announces it will build its $4 billion U.S. manufacturing and assembly plant at Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County, about a 30-minute drive southwest of downtown Raleigh. The company commits to eventually employing at least 7,500 workers at the site by 2027, at a minimum average wage of $51,096.

If it meets hiring goals, VinFast would receive a state incentives package worth $854 million over 32 years while Chatham County would chip in another $400 million.

June 30 — The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality notifies VinFast it has approved its erosion and sedimentation control plan for the Triangle Innovation Point project.

July 11 — The state budget officially appropriates $450 million for site and infrastructure improvements at Triangle Innovation Point. This upfront funding, separate from potential future payroll tax breaks, solidifies VinFast’s incentive package at $1.25 billion.

July 12 — VinFast secures $4 billion in a loan agreement with Credit Suisse and Citigroup to help build its North Carolina electric vehicle factory.

July 25 — NCDEQ issues VinFast a discharge stormwater permit for its Chatham construction.

Nov. 28 — VinFast ships its first fleet of fully electric SUVs to the United States, 1,000 VF8s, which the company aims to deliver to buyers by the end of the year.

December 2022 — VinFast ends year with $2.1 billion in net losses.

2023: Negative reviews and breaking ground

February — VinFast delays deliveries of its VF8 models in the U.S. as it updates vehicle software.

Feb. 9 — NCDEQ issues VinFast an air quality permit, paving the way for the company to begin building its Chatham factory. “VinFast can now move forward with the Phase 1 construction plan,” said Van Anh Nguyen, CEO of VinFast North America, in a statement to The News & Observer.

March 1 — VinFast delivers first 45 cars to U.S. customers.

March 10 — VinFast postpones the targeted opening of its Chatham factory from 2024 to 2025, saying it needs “more time to complete administrative procedures.”

May 11 — VinFast executive Brook Taylor urges Gov. Cooper’s office to help advance the company’s $1.4 billion loan application to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“We are simply asking for support from the federal government in the form of a loan — not a grant — so we can start construction and be confident that there is enough available capital to complete the project without further delays,” Taylor writes.

May 12 — VinFast declares its intention to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. This marked a change from its previous goal, announced in December, to hit the stock market via a traditional initial public offering. The SPAC VinFast looks to join is a Hong Kong-based entity called Black Spade.

May 12 — Automotive critics release their first reviews of VinFast’s VF8. They are largely negative, with descriptions including “Yikes,” “Return to sender,” “Unacceptable” and “Don’t buy.”

May 18 — The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issues a recall for the VF8, warning the car display screen will unintentionally go blank while the vehicle is either driving or stationary.

June 15 — VinFast reports the company lost more than $598 million in the first quarter of 2023, as its revenue declined 49% from the same period last year.

July 11 — VinFast submits site plan application to the Chatham County Planning Department, indicating its goal to initially construct a combined 2.85 million square feet across eight structures.

July 14 — More than 80% of Black Spade shareholders opt to redeem their shares in the SPAC ahead of the firm’s anticipated merger with VinFast. The agreement values the company at $23 billion.

July — VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy and Gov. Cooper ceremonially break ground on the Chatham electric vehicle site as early construction proceeds behind them. It marks the start of the first car manufacturing plant in North Carolina history, completing a long-held ambition of state leaders.

“We’ve been working on that for decades, folks,” Cooper tells the crowd. “Decades we’ve wanted an automaker in North Carolina, and you know, somebody was looking after us. We were just waiting for that EV market.”