VinFast, Vietnam’s electric automaker, has announced a delay in delivering its first vehicles to customers in the United States. The company stated that it needs to complete software updates before the vehicles are sent to their new owners. The initial target for deliveries was December 2022, however, these have now been pushed back to the second half of February 2023.
VinFast, a subsidiary of conglomerate Vingroup JSC, aims to make a name for itself in the competitive U.S. auto market. The company started shipping its first 999 electric vehicles (EVs) in November 2022 and is eager to establish itself as a major player in the industry. The delay in deliveries, however, will not impact VinFast’s plans to expand and compete with established automakers in the United States.
“The cars have been updated with the latest software. We are planning to hand over the first VF8 vehicle models to customers in the second half of February,” VinFast said in a statement.
“The second batch will be shipped to the U.S. in the second quarter of 2023,” the statement said, without specifying the size of the lot.
VinFast, the Vietnamese automaker, reported 55,000 orders globally by the end of December 2022, with 12,000 coming from the United States market. In December, the company delivered over 4,000 electric vehicles (EVs) to customers in its domestic market, with more than half being the VF8 sports utility vehicle.
To maintain market competitiveness, VinFast recently introduced new pricing promotions for the U.S. market, similar to those implemented by Tesla. The company has plans to construct an EV manufacturing plant in North Carolina, pending final approval from local regulators.
