DeLuca spent 37 years at GM. His first factory job was in Linden, N.J.; he later managed a full-size pickup plant in Fort Wayne, Ind. More recently, he ran international quality and manufacturing from Seoul and Shanghai. He retired in 2016 as executive vice president of global manufacturing, manufacturing engineering and labor relations.
In May 2017, DeLuca posted a LinkedIn essay on the enduring lesson he learned from a "not so good" boss who ruled by intimidation. The takeaway: He needed to manage in a way that made his workers feel good about themselves.
He now has more than 1,200 employees to hone that lesson on.
His executive team has been assembled largely from GM alumni. Some are refugees from GM's defunct manufacturing operations in Australia. Others are from Ford and Fiat Chrysler. There are also locals from Vietnam, where the auto industry historically has meant cars assembled from knockdown kits.
Beyond the sedan and crossover, a VinFast small car is in the works. So, too, are an electric car and bus.
Risks? There are plenty, he says. Quality, reliability and durability will be essential.
And on paper at least, VinFast's ambitions look outsized. The Dinh Vu plant and its capacity to make 250,000 vehicles annually is going up in a market that sold just 273,000 last year.
Exports would be an outlet and are definitely in the plan. But the immediate focus is on Vietnam, where DeLuca says incomes are rising, just 23 people in a thousand own a car, pride is burgeoning around a home-grown automaker, and there's a chance to play a role in amending history.
"So many people — Vietnamese and Americans — lost their lives in that war," he said. "I'm just happy to be here to do something positive on the land that was so devastating to so many on both sides of the fence."
Luca Ciferri contributed to this report.
