VinFast has laid off 98 employees in Canada and the United States amid a restructuring that saw the Vietnam-based electric vehicle manufacturer merge its U.S. and Canadian operations.
Of the total, 38 employees in Canada were affected, a company spokesman said, adding that the job terminations took effect Feb. 2.
Prior to the cuts, there were about 100 VinFast employees in Canada.
Some laid off employees posted on social media that they were terminated.
“I, along with others at VinFast, were let go yesterday due to the restructuring of the Canadian team; 6 months to the day of my hiring,” Matthew Veenbaas, a former technical training manager, wrote in a LinkedIn post Feb. 3.
“I feel incredibly proud of the work I was able to perform at VinFast, and the training materials I created. Hopefully the technical team has been set up for success with the training programs created!”
The cuts include VinFast Canada CEO Huynh Du An, who has resigned, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Gene Fong continues as director of marketing.
VinFast announced Jan. 25 the consolidation of its Canadian and U.S. strategic business and management operations into a single unit, to be called, VinFast North America.
'INCREASED EFFICIENCY'
“The move is expected to drive increased efficiency in the use and allocation of resources, while improving VinFast’s operational and financial performance,” the company said in a statement at the time. It “is a part of VinFast’s long-term strategy to position the company for greater success in the highly-competitive and dynamic automotive industry.”
A source, who spoke on the condition of confidentiality, said the downsizing reduces the Canadian market “to just another store for the U.S., and make almost all decisions down there.”
The company spokesman said the cuts affected employees in “various roles,” while sparing those in customer service as well as employees at VinFast stores. VinFast opened its first Canadian store Nov. 15 at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, one of nine retail outlets across the country.
VinFast North America, meanwhile, “will house the key strategic business and management operations and will be headquartered in Los Angeles,” the company’s Jan. 25 statement said. “VinFast Canada will become a member company under VinFast North America, responsible for sales, service and distribution in the Canadian market.”
Nguyen Thi Van Anh was named CEO of VinFast North America, and will maintain her current role as CEO of VinFast U.S. – Manufacturing, the company said.
The consolidation “is designed to provide greater focus, responsiveness and accountability, in order to streamline operations and enhance the delivery of its new electric vehicles to customers while reducing expenses.”
Under the new structure, “both the U.S. and Canadian operations will continue to be responsible for in-market initiatives, including the implementation of certain plans and tactics to respond to the specific market conditions and unique customer requirements in each country.
VinFast, is launching four electric crossovers in North America: the full-size VF 9, the mid-size VF 8, the compact VF 7, and the subcompact VF 6.
The VF 8 and VF 9 were open for reservation in 2022 and “will be delivered to Canadian customers in the coming months,” the company said.
VinFast also is planning to build an assembly plant in North Carolina, with a capacity of 150,000 EVs a year.
Reuters reported Feb. 3 that VinFast will delay deliveries to its first U.S. customers to the second half of February after it finishes updating the vehicles with the latest software.
The company, a unit of conglomerate Vingroup, is gearing up to expand in the U.S., where it hopes to compete with existing automakers.
It started to ship its first 999 EVs in November, but has not delivered them to customers yet after the company initially targeted December deliveries.
The company said in December it had filed for an initial public offering to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “VFS” to fund its expansion, according to Bloomberg News.
