Vietnamese carmaker VinFast Auto has on Tuesday announced it has officially signed agreements with 12 new dealers in the United States (US).

This expansion marks a significant step in VinFast’s ongoing efforts to broaden its distribution network and strengthen its presence in the world’s leading automotive market, VinFast said in a statement.

According to the statement, the 12 new VinFast dealership stores are anticipated to begin opening from April 2024.

This will bring the total number of VinFast dealers in the US to 18, spanning across seven states: North Carolina, New York, Texas, Florida, Kansas, Connecticut, and Kentucky.

It is noted that California, the state with the highest electric vehicle (EV) adoption rate in the United States, already boasts 15 operational VinFast stores and service centers.

The new dealerships will start selling the VF 8 model, followed by the VF 9 and VF 7 soon after their US launch.

“Leveraging the network of stores, market experience, and capabilities of leading US dealers, VinFast will quickly deliver high-quality, competitively priced electric vehicles to consumers, along with outstanding after-sales policies,” said David Duncan, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at VinFast US.

According to him, this establishes a solid foundation for VinFast’s strong growth in the US market.

“In the fourth quarter of 2023, VinFast made an important pivot from the capital-heavy, direct-to-consumer distribution model to a capital-light hybrid model with a strong focus on leveraging existing distribution infrastructure by building dealership networks in the U.S. and globally,

“Sales through dealers are expected to contribute significantly to the company’s sales in the second half of 2024,” he added.

In addition to key markets such as the U.S., Canada, and Europe, VinFast said it is actively expanding into countries in Asia such as India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as in the Middle East and Africa.

Outside of Vietnam, it said the firm is also aiming to accelerate the construction of EV manufacturing plants in the U.S. and India, with plans to establish an additional plant in Indonesia.

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