Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam's richest man, has plowed $14 billion into global EV startup VinFast with hopes of making it a player in the U.S. and Europe. But like other EV startups, the company's prospects have been eroding.
U.S. sales are stagnant and plans for an assembly plant in North Carolina are on hold. But the company is moving ahead with its switch to a U.S. franchised dealership network instead of direct sales channels.
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Laurence Iliff reports today that VinFast's new store in San Diego is part of Sunroad Automotive Group, which sells 14 brands at nine locations.
"We believe in VinFast's strong potential to make a lasting impact in the North American market," Uri Feldman, president of Sunroad Holding Corp., said in a statement.
VinFast arrived in California in 2022 with plans for a vast direct-sales network across the U.S., Iliff wrote. It now has "nearly 30″ franchised dealerships in 14 states, the company said in a press release.
Despite tariff uncertainty and the loss of the EV tax credit Sept. 30, Tesla Inc. and other EV makers — led by Rivian Automotive, Lucid Motors and VinFast — will need to find ways to grow in the U.S. even with stagnating overall EV sales and market share.
"VinFast is accelerating the development of its dealership network across the U.S., with California identified as a top priority state due to its significant EV growth potential," VinFast said.
One reason for optimism in California emerged this week with momentum building for the state to backfill the expiring U.S. EV tax credit with its own $7,500 tax credit.
Meanwhile, we've had a lot of news about Amazon's online used-car platform. Earlier today, Hertz announced a partnership with Amazon to sell its used rental vehicles online.
Finally, Bloomberg reported that Ford Motor Co. is looking at developing a supercar for off-road racing as a follow-up to its new $325,000 Mustang GTD high-performance sports car. CEO Jim Farley said he envisions the vehicle as a high-performance machine that could compete in the Dakar Rally desert endurance race in Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg said.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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