By Chris Roush for Business North Carolina

Vietnamese electronic car maker VinFast says it’s delaying manufacturing at its planned North Carolina plant until 2028.

The company said that the decision will allow it “to optimize its capital allocation and manage its short-term spending more effectively, focusing more resources on supporting near-term growth targets and strengthening existing operations.”

In April, the company had said that construction of its $4 billion manufacturing plant in Moncure was still scheduled to begin operation by the end of 2025.

“We have adopted a more prudent outlook that is carefully calibrated to near-term headwinds, taking into full consideration the realities of market volatility and potential challenges,” said Madam Thuy Le, chair of its board of directors, in a statement. “Our robust long-term strategy and proven execution capabilities position us well to meet the evolving needs of the dynamic global EV market.”

VinFast said it now anticipates delivering approximately 80,000 electric vehicles in 2024, down from its previous projection of 100,000. The company delivered 34,855 vehicles in 2023.

The automaker originally scheduled its North Carolina operations 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.

VinFast has promised to spend about $2 billion in the project’s first phase, then another $2 billion down the road. The company expects to eventually employ 7,500 people and to produce as many as 150,000 electric vehicles annually in North Carolina. Annual salaries are slated to average about  $51,000.

VinFast has signed 16 U.S. dealership agreements.

VinFast, which has yet to make a profit, posted a net loss of $618 million in the first quarter. Revenue nearly tripled from a year earlier but fell 31% from the previous three months.

Its stock price fell 5 cents to $4.85 on Friday. The 52-week high is $93.

The preceding article was written by Chris Roush and originally appeared on July 13, 2024 at Business North Carolina’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law.