Biden praises electric car company for $4 billion investment and thousands of jobs

A new Southeast Asian electric car company plans to build a manufacturing plant in North Carolina, creating thousands of jobs in the United States

President Joe Biden announced VinFast, a Vietnamese automaker, plans to expand operations in the United States, investing $4 billion to establish its first auto assembly and battery manufacturing plant in North America. The company says it will employ at least 7,500 workers by 2027.

The Biden administration says the VinFast announcement is the latest push to build a clean energy economy.

“Since taking office, we have implemented an industrial strategy to revitalize domestic manufacturing and create well-paying American jobs, strengthen American supply chains, and energize industries of the future like electric vehicles – and we see this strategy bear fruit day after day,” Biden said in a statement.

The plant will be built at Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County, North Carolina on approximately 2,000 acres of land. Once operational, VinFast claims the manufacturing plant will produce more than 250,000 vehicles per year.

Vehicles planned for production at the site include the VinFast VF 9, a seven-passenger all-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) and the VinFast VF 8, a five-passenger all-electric mid-size SUV.

Construction of the plant is expected to begin in July 2024, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said.

“North Carolina is rapidly becoming the center of our nation’s emerging clean energy economy,” Cooper said in a statement. “VinFast’s transformation project will bring many good jobs to our state, as well as a healthier environment as more electric vehicles hit the road to help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

VinFast says North Carolina’s commitment to fighting climate change and building a clean energy economy makes the state an ideal location for the new manufacturing site.

In 2018, Cooper issued an executive order to fight climate change. The order included an economy-wide target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2025.

“Having a direct-to-market production facility will help VinFast proactively manage its supply chain, keep prices stabilized and shorten product lead time, making VinFast’s electric vehicles more accessible to customers, contributing to the achievement of local environmental improvement goals,” said Le Thi. Thu Thuy, Vice President of Vingroup and CEO of VinFast Global.

VinFast was founded in 2017 as a subsidiary of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup. Its headquarters are in Hanoi, Vietnam, with a vehicle production facility capable of producing 950,000 vehicles per year by 2026.

Newsweek has contacted VinFast for comment.