VinFast to inject $200 million to set up headquarters in California

VinFast is setting up its new HQ with substantial support from California

Accordingly, VinFast will invest over $200 million and create at least 1,065 new full-time jobs in California. In return, the company has received a $20.5 million credit to establish its US headquarters in California.

According to the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), the offer to VinFast is part of a $150 million tax credit that is expected to generate more than 7,600 new full-time employment positions in California. Over the next five years, the money from the California Competes (CalCompetes) Tax Credit programme will result in more than $1.2 billion in new investments across the state.

“CalCompetes is an important programme that attracts and retains employers, who in turn create good-paying jobs and economic opportunity for California workers,” said Dee Dee Myers, senior advisor to Governor Newsom and director of GO-Biz. “These tax credits will incentivise the creation of thousands of new, quality full-time jobs, and much-needed investment across our state.”

"VinFast is planning to bring its all-electric SUVs to the US next year – and we wanted to make sure that it chose California for its US headquarters,” said Scott Dosick, deputy director of CalCompetes. “The CalCompetes Tax Credit programme is one of California’s greatest tools to recruit businesses that are being actively courted by numerous states. We are proud that VinFast will call California home.”

“VinFast was established to bring affordable luxury electric vehicles to the US market, and we are already building a world-class corporate team in our US center of advanced transportation and smart technology,” said VinFast US CEO Van Anh Nguyen. “We greatly appreciate the support of the State of California as we prepare to launch a brand that will significantly increase EV adoption worldwide and help California and the US meet important environmental goals."

Other companies also entitled to the $150 million CalCompetes Tax Credit include Infinity Energy Inc. of Fresno with a manufacturing plant for solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations as well as EnerVenue, Inc. of Fremont with a project to make high-capacity nickel hydrogen batteries.

VinFast is Vietnam's first homegrown car manufacturer when its gasoline-powered cars made under its own nameplate hit the streets in 2019. It plans to launch two battery electric SUVs in the US next year, as well as 60 showrooms around the country. The company is exploring possibility to develop a manufacturing facility in the US, too.