RALEIGH – Despite laying off 60 U.S.-based workers, plans from Vietnamese automaker VinFast to build an electric vehicle automotive assembly plant in North Carolina won’t be affected, the company says.

A spokesperson for the company told WRAL TechWire: “The consolidation doesn’t affect the factory plans in North Carolina.”

Two weeks ago, VinFast said it would consolidate its U.S. and Canadian operations into one group, rather than keep them separate.

“We are consolidating our operations of VinFast US and VinFast Canada into VinFast North America to drive increased efficiency in the use and allocation of resources, while improving VinFast’s operational and financial performance,” said the spokesperson.  “We also collaborate with a range of local service providers to optimize business efficiency as well as increase the quality and responsiveness of our customer service.”

Still, the spokesperson  confirmed that 60 employees based in the United States and an additional 38 employees based in Canada “are not retained” following the restructuring.

“We considered this based on business requirements and direction as well as ensuring our employees’ rights and benefits are handled in accordance with the law,” the spokesperson said.

Reports: VinFast cuts jobs in North America operations; top finance exec leaves

Bumps in the road

The consolidation is coming at a time when the company is facing other hurdles.

That includes the delay of delivering the first shipment of electric vehicles to U.S. customers.

And Bloomberg reported that the job cuts at the company are “raising questions about the health of the Vietnamese company ahead of a possible stock listing.”  In 2022, Bloomberg estimated that an initial public offering (IPO) could help the company raise $2 billion in capital.

The spokesperson for VinFast told WRAL TechWire that the company does not comment “on the IPO process or status.”

Bloomberg also reported that the company’s chief financial officer for the firm’s North America operations was among the employees who were laid off.

VinFast preps for up to $2B stock offering as it builds $4B car plant in NC