Officials expected to announce Vietnamese automaker coming to NC, bringing 13,000 jobs
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VinFast in NC
Vietnamese automaker VinFast announced in March 2022 that it would open an electric vehicle assembly plant in North Carolina. The battery manufacturing plant will be built in Chatham County and is expected to eventually create 7,500 jobs. It’s the largest economic development announcement in the state’s history. Here is coverage from The News & Observer about the plans.
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Updated March 29, 2022: VinFast, an automotive company from Vietnam, will build a multibillion-dollar production facility in the Triangle area for its new line of electric vehicles, North Carolina’s Commerce Department confirmed Tuesday. For more on the plant, see this story.
North Carolina has landed its first auto manufacturer: a Vietnamese startup with plans to build a new line of electric cars in the greater Triangle area, a source tells The News & Observer.
A legislative source close to the state’s negotiations process said a Vietnamese auto manufacturer will invest at least $5 billion to build a plant at Moncure’s Triangle Innovation Point, a 2,150-acre “megasite” just north of Sanford. The new facility will employ as many as 13,000 people, the source said.
The source declined to name the company but the Triangle Business Journal identified it as VinFast, an EV startup founded in 2017 by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong.
VinFast has not responded to the N&O’s request for comment.
North Carolina leaders are expected to announce VinFast’s arrival Tuesday. The state will award its incentives package in an Economic Investment Committee meeting at 1 p.m., according to the N&O’s source. Gov. Roy Cooper is set to make an economic development announcement at the Raleigh Convention Center at 2 p.m.
VinFast launched a line of gasoline-powered cars with BMW-licensed engines in 2019, only for Vietnamese consumers. Vuong, who is chairman of VinFast’s parent company, Vingroup, announced in late 2020 that he would back the company’s global ambitions with $2 billion of his personal fortune, according to Bloomberg.
Last year, the company announced it would headquarter U.S. operations from Los Angeles, but had not secured a location for its North American production facility.
Automaker recruited
Chatham County economic developers and state legislators have worked doggedly to secure a tenant for Triangle Innovation Point, North Carolina’s largest megasite, since missing out on recruiting Micron — a prominent producer of semiconductors — in January. Global interest earned the small-town site a place on the N&O’s list of “5 places to watch in 2022.”
“I’ve been in economic development in North Carolina for more than 20 years, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time where so many transformational projects are looking at North Carolina,” Chatham EDC president Michael Smith previously told the N&O.
The megasite’s proximity to the Triangle — about a 30-minute drive by car — and its robust infrastructure positioned the site as a leading contender for large-scale operations in life sciences, technology and industry.
“What’s going on at Triangle Innovation Point is really well-situated to land top-notch users that will bring great jobs,” said Jason Kaplan, managing member of Moncure Holdings LLC, in a previous interview with the N&O. Moncure Holdings oversees TIP’s development.
“Everything is working for it — TIP’s proximity to Raleigh, RDU, Sanford, U.S. 1. There are very few sites in the country that present the opportunity for major businesses to locate so near a major city.”
Major jobs announcements in NC
VinFast’s arrival would mark the third economic boon for North Carolina in the last four months.
Boom Supersonic, a fledgling airplane maker with plans to reinvent supersonic passenger travel, announced in February it would build a $500 million “flagship” production facility at Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport. The company received an incentive package worth $121.5 million from the state of North Carolina and Guilford County.
Greensboro will also host a new Toyota battery plant, the company announced in mid-December. Its facility will cost $1.29 billion and employ at least 1,750 employees. North Carolina and Randolph County will contribute $438.7 million worth of incentives — one of the largest manufacturing investments in the state’s history.
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Officials expected to announce Vietnamese automaker coming to NC, bringing 13,000 jobs."
