Reuters- Vietnam's VinFast moved its headquarters to Singapore as the fledgling electric vehicle maker prepares for a public listing and the first production run of cars for U.S. and European markets, its chief executive told Reuters.
The three-year old unit of the conglomerate Vingroup JSC will begin building its VF 8 sport utility vehicle SUV next week, its own EV batteries in August and a $4 billion U.S. factory by summer-end, Le Thi Thu Thuy said in an interview.
VinFast has filed for an initial public offering IPO in the United States through a Singapore-based holding company, though market conditions may push the deal into 2023, according to Vingroup earlier this month.
Thuy said that Singapore is a jurisdiction that will give investors more confidence, because of her currently Hanoi-based company. We put ourselves in the shoes of the investors. Parent Vingroup is Vietnam's largest listed company by market capitalisation, with businesses as varied as retail and real estate. VinFast started building conventional petrol-powered cars in 2019 before switching to EVs in 2021.
Vingroup said in May it saw a global EV shortage and that it has invested heavily to develop models for overseas markets, despite the fact that the market is crowded with established automakers competing with a miscellany of startups. Alongside its VF 8, it has also been developing the larger VF 9, though it was delayed by about a month because of the impact of COVID 19 containment measures in Shanghai on suppliers, Thuy said.
By the end of the year, Thuy said, starting with the VF 8, we will deliver cars to the international market by the end of the year. All of our efforts are on the start of production for the VF 8. VinFast is betting on the U.S. market where it hopes to sell the two SUVs with prices from $41,000 with a battery leasing plan. Thuy said that it hopes to open its first showrooms in California by early July, including a flagship in Santa Monica.
The automaker plans to build a plant in North Carolina, where it is seeking government financing, with construction beginning in the summer-end and production beginning in 2024.
Like any big corporate, we always consider all potential financing transactions, according to Thuy.
The automaker has been developing its own batteries as a hedge against future shortage, according to Thuy, the first VF 8 models to be powered by batteries from South Korea's Samsung SDI Co Ltd.
VinFast expects to have the capacity to produce around 3,000 vehicles with its own batteries by the end of the year, she said.
Thuy plans to spend more time in Singapore, where VinFast is about to buy a building, turning what was a paper company into an operating hub that would include an office and housing for staff and executives.
Thuy said that they are determined to establish the company in Singapore.