Electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast announced the shipment of its first batch of 999 vehicles to the United States on Friday.
The Star reports that the shipment completes a five-year effort to establish an auto manufacturing hub in the South-East Asian country for markets in North America and Europe.
The first vehicles are expected to be handed over to customers by the end of December, the company said.
VinFast chief executive Le Thi Thu Thuy said some of the VF 8 electric SUVs being shipped yesterday would be sent to US car subscription service Autonomy but the majority would go to retail buyers who have ordered the car.
Thuy said VinFast expected to be able to ship a second batch of cars to the United States, its first export market, around January.
VinFast is in the process of building an electric vehicle plant in North Carolina that is awaiting final regulatory approval from local officials.
The EV maker said the number 999 for the vehicles shipped in the first batch had been chosen because it is considered a lucky number in Vietnam.
“There is no luckier number than 999,” Thuy said. The Panamanian-chartered transport ship used to send the first shipment of VinFast EVs had the capacity to carry up to 2,000 vehicles, officials said.
