Tag Archives: VinFast

Something About Bulgaria

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Looking east for potential in-country investment. . . .

By Stephen Macaulay

According to the CIA World Fact Book, the industries in Bulgaria are:

“electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, automotive parts, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel; outsourcing centers”

Apparently, the automotive parts manufacturing operations in Bulgaria are extensive, with the company having a particular expertise in the production of things like airbag sensors.

But there are no OEM operations in Bulgaria.

So last week H.E. Rumen Radev, president of the Republic of Bulgaria, and his colleagues took a trip of nearly 5,000 east to the VinFast Hai Phong Manufacturing Complex in Vietnam.

Radev met with Vice Chairman and CEO of Vingroup, Mr. Nguyễn Việt Quang, who noted that the company is looking to expand its electric vehicle production operations around the world.

So Radev emphasized that Bulgaria might be a good place for the Vietnamese company to not only sell its EVs and produce components for them, but to even manufacture in the country.

The point: While the European auto industry is undergoing some severe pressures that will result in massive changes, people like Radev recognize that auto still represents a net positive for one’s GDP.

Electrify America & VinFast

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Electrify America is the largest network of electric vehicle fast-charging facilities in the United States. As of today the company has 750 stations and 81 more in the works. Electrify America is investing billions in building out stations and providing education about zero-emissions vehicles. On the one hand, as this is a growing segment it makes good business sense. But on the other, the $2-billion designated for spending is predicated on a legal finding that goes back to the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, so it was perhaps a good coincidence in some ways for Volkswagen Group (i.e., as it produces more electric vehicles, it has the means by which they can be charged).

But Electrify America isn’t a VW-only network. Most companies that have an EV offering have established a relationship with it, including: Audi, BMW, Byton, Fisker, Ford, Hyundai, Lucid, Kia, Mercedes, Polestar, Porsche, Volvo, and, yes, VW.

Today Electrify America added another OEM to its list: VinFast, the Vietnam-based OEM that announced late in March that it will build an assembly plant for its electric SUVs in North Carolina.

VinFast operates a plant in Hai Phong, Vietnam, at present. Production in North Carolina is anticipated in Q3 of 2024.

The company says it will have global availability of its VF 8 and VF 9 EVs this year.

A car company operating a charging network. A Vietnamese company building a car plant in North Carolina.

Yes, electric vehicles are changing the world in many ways.