(The Center Square) – VinFast, the troubled Vietnamese carmaker planning a $4 billion electric vehicle facility in North Carolina, and INKAS have collaborated to offer a fully electric armored SUV.
The Lạc Hồng 900 LX in tests withstood more than 400 live rounds, grenades, and blast simulations. The companies tout the vehicle “at the intersection of sustainability, luxury and security.”
For context, second-term Republican President Donald Trump rides in a vehicle named “The Beast” that undergoes classified testing for ballistic rounds, explosives, and the ability to withstand rocket-propelled grenades.
VinFast has billed its Moncure plant in Chatham County, with 7,500 jobs coming, as the “crown jewel” of the company’s global expansion. However, since announcing plans to come, the plant of 995,500 square feet has scaled back to 782,255 square feet, and opening day of production has gone from summer 2024 to a tentative 2028.
VinFast’s fast-bleed of money has impacted getting off the ground in North Carolina, well before second-term Republican President Donald Trump reached office and began to squelch a number of green agenda items pushed by his predecessor.
VinFast, in financials released earlier this month, had second quarter net loss of $812 million. The first quarter of 2025 had a net loss of $712.4 million. Those numbers are better than the fourth quarter of 2024, a $1.257 billion net loss.
VinFast, a $316.1 million taxpayer subsidy recipient to develop an assembly and battery plant in Chatham County’s Triangle Innovation Point megasite, recalled all 999 vehicles sent to the United States in May 2023 because of a software glitch causing a blank screen in the VF8 model electric vehicles that displays safety information. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the risk of a crash is increased by a blank multifunction head unit display “will not show critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, which may increase the risk of a crash.”
The VF8 City Edition, a $50,000-plus electric vehicle, debuted two years ago with troubling reviews even before the recall.
