According to Reuters news agency, Vietnam’s Vingroup is likely to seek financial support from the US government for its VinFast electric vehicle segment when it plans to open a factory in North Carolina.
“It’s also one of the financing options, but we have to prove to them that we’re up to the standards,” said Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong.
VinFast said it has registered for an initial public offering (IPO) with US stock market regulators and is ready to invest in building a $4 billion factory here.
Electric car company VinFast, which started operating in 2019, is betting big on the US market when it hopes to compete with big names as well as startups in the industry. Currently, the company has 2 electric vehicle models and a battery rental service, thereby reducing the cost of buying a car.
Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong said that this IPO will help the company’s brand expand globally, but if the situation is not good, they can continue to wait.
“We are determined to do this IPO, but the highest priority is not to find capital, but to improve the global reputation of the VinFast brand,” said Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong.
According to Vingroup’s leader, the US government’s vehicle technology development loan program (AVTM) is an option for the company to get a loan.
This $25 billion loan program was approved by the US Congress in 2007 when major US auto factories based in Detroit fell into full-blown crisis.
According to the program’s website, they are being managed by the US Department of Energy and still have the ability to lend close to $18 billion.
VinFast has pledged to create about 7,500 jobs when it builds a factory in North Carolina, where the company will manufacture batteries for its VF8-9 electric vehicle. The business said it will start building the factory as soon as it is licensed and try to put it into operation from 2024.
Meanwhile, VinFast is planning to export two of its electric car models from factories in Vietnam to the US by the end of this year.
*Source: Reuters