Vietnamese EV automaker VinFast has announced that its business and management operations in Canada will now work alongside an HQ established in the US to form VinFast North America. By combining its businesses into one cohesive unit, VinFast North America hopes to increase efficiency – a factor the company has already been recognized for through its massive expansion in a short amount of time.
VinFast was founded in 2017 and really didn’t really start catching the attention of North American EV enthusiasts or consumers until 2021, when the automaker delivered a myriad of ambitious announcements before Los Angeles Auto Show.
That October, our very first coverage of VinFast included its plans to sell its EVs in both North America and Europe by mid-2022. Additionally, the automaker spoke quite openly about its intentions to file for an IPO on the US stock exchange.
By November of 2021, VinFast had launched its first two EV models for the North American market that would be supported by a shiny new headquarters in Los Angeles. By the fall of 2022, VinFast had made good on its promise and began US deliveries of its VF8 EV. It’s still working on that IPO though.
With its Los Angeles headquarters in place, the automaker has now decided it will be the HQ for VinFast North America.
Canada joins US HQ as VinFast North America
VinFast shared details of the operations consolidation in a brief press release this evening, explaining that it will not affect commitments to customers in neither the US nor Canada. As part of the reshuffling, VinFast’s US headquarters in LA will now become the new home for VinFast North America.
The latter now includes VinFast Canada as a member company that will still be responsible for all sales, service, and distribution to the North. Per the release:
The consolidation is designed to provide greater focus, responsiveness and accountability, in order to streamline operations and enhance the delivery of its new electric vehicles to customers while reducing expenses. With strategic direction from the Vietnam global leadership team, both the US and Canadian operations will continue to be responsible for in-market initiatives including the implementation of certain plans and tactics developed to respond to the specific market conditions and unique customer requirements in each country.
Current VinFast US CEO Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh will maintain her current role, but has also been named CEO of VinFast North America. The company states that regardless of the new consolidation, it will retain existing legal entities in both Canada and the US for product distribution and service activities.