Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast is cutting jobs in the United States and Canada as part of a restructuring which will merge operations in the two countries. The restructuring comes as VinFast prepares to enter the US public market and delivery delays to its first clients in the country.
VinFast has not shared how many employees have been laid off, but a LinkedIn post from a former employee said “almost 35 roles” were affected. said a spokesman Reuters Headcount in Vietnam, where most of the company’s engineering operations and personnel are located, would not be reduced.
“The last 4 months have been an experience like no other,” the post says. “From meeting and collaborating with some of the most talented professionals in the industry to building a team and program with the intent of launching a service nationwide for a startup.”
Note the “launch intent” part of that statement. Neither the employee who wrote the post nor the company have responded to TechCrunch to clarify the nature of the service nationwide and whether VinFast has stopped operating there, but we have some guesses.
A large part of VinFast’s luxury electric vehicle offering in the US is the customer experience, which includes a wireless network and over-the-air firmware updates. The company may have also been looking at an EV charging network in the United States, something VinFast has been doing in Vietnam. Some of the affected employees who posted on LinkedIn worked in mobile service operations and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, which could indicate that VinFast is moving away from launching these services in North America.
VinFast’s expansion strategy into international markets also includes a direct-to-consumer sales model. Many of the 150 people VinFast said it had hired in the US were in sales, support and distribution roles.
The company, a subsidiary of the Vingroup conglomerate, has been pushing into the US market with four electric SUVs and potentially a sports car. Last week, VinFast said that delay deliveries to its first US customers in the second half of February when it finishes updating the vehicles with the latest software.
