Electric car maker VinFast has cut about 80 jobs in North America, including its U.S. chief financial officer, ahead of a potential public listing and before it starts delivering cars to U.S. buyers. It raises questions about the health of Vietnamese companies.
VinFast US chief financial officer Rodney Haynes has left the company amid a restructuring, according to people familiar with the matter. There have also been job cuts in Canada, according to people familiar with the matter.
VinFast, part of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate and backed by the country’s richest man, announced late last month that it had transferred its U.S. and Canadian strategic operations and administrative operations to a single entity called VinFast North America, headquartered in Los Angeles. announced that it will be merged into one unit. Van Anh Nguyen has been appointed as his CEO of the new company while maintaining his role as CEO of VinFast US Manufacturing, the company said.
VinFast US CEO Giang Nguyen has been reappointed as deputy CEO of VinFast North America, according to people familiar with the matter.
When asked by Bloomberg News, VinFast said the restructuring is aimed at better serving customers in the region and is working with local service providers to improve efficiency. “This will also streamline our North American operations, with certain divisions affected by this,” the EV maker said in an email.
Haines and Nguyen did not immediately respond to messages from Bloomberg.
VinFast has big ambitions in the US, the first country outside of Vietnam to target EVs. The first shipments of the vehicles arrived a few weeks ago, but the first shipments in the highly competitive auto market have already been delayed, after the company first said it would be delayed from December to January, the company said last week. , said it had no plans to start until late February. VinFast recently reduced the price and increased the range of the VF 8 SUV. But the range and battery leasing plans have moved targets in recent months.
Faced with job cuts and delays, the automaker said in December it was planning a U.S. initial public offering and was working with banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. Bloomberg reported last month that it could go public in the second quarter. .
VinFast was founded in 2017 by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong. The company says he can ship as many as 1 million cars worldwide in about five years.
Reuters had previously reported that the company was cutting some U.S. jobs.
