VinFast opens first U.S. dealership with Leith Automotive Group in N.C.

Electric vehicle maker VinFast opened its first franchised dealership in the U.S. with Leith Automotive Group as part of the Vietnamese automaker's plans to add third-party retailers alongside its company-owned stores in California.

The Leith VinFast store in Cary, N.C., is about 20 miles away from the automaker's future assembly plant in the state, expected to start production in 2025, according to VinFast.

The North Carolina dealership, which opened last week, is VinFast's first sales point outside of California. VinFast plans to expand from one model, the VF 8 crossover, to a full lineup of EVs sold throughout the U.S. and Canada.

"After interacting with VinFast's executive team and experiencing their vehicles firsthand, we were captivated by the brand and knew it was a perfect addition," said Danny Williams, COO at Leith Automotive Group, in a press release.

Leith, based in Raleigh, N.C., has 37 franchise locations in the state representing 24 new-car brands, the dealer group said.

According to a report from local news channel ABC 11, VinFast had about 60 VF 8 crossovers at the Leith dealership last week. VinFast chose the dealer group in part because of its location near the future VinFast factory, the report said.

"North Carolina has tried to get an automobile manufacturer for decades," Williams told ABC 11 Eyewitness News. "And the government really stepped up, helped get it here, so it's going to be great for our economy."

VinFast began selling the VF 8 directly to customers in California a year ago through its website and 13 company-owned showrooms. According to data from S&P Global, VinFast had just 218 registrations for the VF 8 through October, the most recent data available. VinFast also sells the VF 8 in Canada, and is expanding into Europe and Asia.

The Vietnam-built VF 8 has faced challenges in the California market, where Tesla Inc. is the second most popular brand behind Toyota. The VF 8 doesn't qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit and is priced above popular EV crossovers such as the Tesla Model Y, which is eligible for the EV incentive. The VF 8 starts at $47,200 with shipping.

VinFast told Automotive News in November that it expects to have 125 franchised dealers as part of an initial rollout and then hundreds by the end of 2024 throughout the U.S. In addition to the VF 8, VinFast plans to launch the larger three-row VF 9 crossover this year. The VF 9 starts at $84,200 with shipping, according to VinFast's website.

Starting in 2025, VinFast expects to launch two smaller, more affordable crossovers, the VF 6 and VF 7, and is considering bringing a micro car, the VF 3, to the U.S. market as an under-$20,000 entry model, the company said.

Once VinFast's North Carolina plant is producing some of the EV models, the company expects them to qualify for the federal tax incentive requiring North American assembly and battery materials sourced from outside China.

The automaker's shift from direct sales to a mixed sales model, including dealers, came after VinFast Auto Ltd. became a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq on Aug. 15.

VinFast said in an earnings report in October that it was shifting its sales model to allow for third-party sellers in some global markets, in addition to direct sales. VinFast also said it might consider transferring company-owned stores to its retail partners in some global markets, but the EV maker hasn't said whether that would include its California locations.

VinFast, backed by Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup, was founded in 2017 and began making its first gasoline-powered vehicles for the domestic market in 2019. It has since phased out gasoline vehicles in favor of newly developed EVs.