Vinfast Ships Its First Batch Of VF8 EVs To North America

The Vietnamese EV startup’s first few vehicles are en route to North America.

Straight from the brand’s headquarters and manufacturing hub in Hai Phong, Vietnam, the brand VinFast, announced that it’s finally shipped the first batch of EV crossovers. Officially shipped Friday (November 25), the barge departed Vietnam with 999 examples of the VF8 EV crossover, all destined for North America. VinFast picked the number 999 for a specific reason, in Vietnamese culture, no other number is luckier, a sort of good fortune start to VinFast’s North American endeavors. The cars are expected to change hands to their new owners by the end of December.

The VinFast VF8 is a midsized EV crossover with seating for five. Its larger brother, the seven-seat VF9, won’t start making its way to North America until early 2023.

According to Reuters, VinFast Chief Executive Le Thi Thu Thuy, said most of the cars are destined for private owners, although a few will be in the hands of the car-sharing service, Autonomy. Autonomy has ordered 2,500 VinFast EVs, part of VinFast’s claimed 65,000 pre-orders it has received for the VF8 and VF9, globally.

This is just the first shipment of cars, the brand says it has plans on shipping another batch of vehicles to the US in January 2023. These shipments are likely to continue until the brand can get its North Carolina manufacturing plant up and running. The plant is reportedly behind schedule, but the brand expects it to be up and running by July 2024.

Discuss this story on our VinFast forum

Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here