Vietnamese electric-vehicle (EV) maker VinFast Auto Ltd signed an agreement with an Indian state to invest as much as US$2 billion , as it seeks to break into the world’s third-largest automobile market.

The agreement will pave the way for VinFast to set up an integrated EV facility in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the company said in a statement. The initial investment will be US$500 million, it said, without giving more details.

Construction of the facility is targeted to start this year, the company said. The project will have an annual capacity of as much as 150,000 units, it said.

VinFast on Saturday announced parent company founder Pham Nhat Vuong as its new chief executive officer, with current CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy becoming the head of the board of directors. VinFast said it is the right time to evolve its leadership, as it enters the next phase of its development.

The company, which is constructing a US$2 billion manufacturing complex in North Carolina and planning a factory in Indonesia, seeks to aggressively move into Southeast Asian markets, and wants to eventually raise “a lot of capital” to fuel global expansion, Thuy told Bloomberg in October. 

VinFast went public in the US in August by merging with blank-check company Black Spade Acquisition Co, and reported a wider loss in the third quarter. 

The automaker began selling EVs in the US in early 2023, and planned its first European deliveries in the fourth quarter of last year.

  - Bloomberg