Vietnam’s electric-car maker VinFast recalled all 999 of its initial sport utility vehicles shipped to the US over malfunctioning software that can lead the main screen to go blank.
(Bloomberg) — Vietnam’s electric-car maker VinFast recalled all 999 of its initial sport utility vehicles shipped to the US over malfunctioning software that can lead the main screen to go blank.
The company can begin delivering an over-the-air software update on Thursday that fixes the issue, according to its defect notice posted to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
The recall comes after the automaker’s first vehicles sold in the US garnered a number of bad reviews, with some saying they aren’t ready for deliveries. VinFast said in the notice that just 111 of the vehicles it’s recalling are in customer hands, roughly six months after they were loaded onto a cargo ship destined for California.
Recalls of electric vehicles is common among major manufacturers, VinFast Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy said in an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.
“We are new players and of course we will have issues,” Thuy said. “It is not good for us” to have to recall vehicles, she added. “We welcome all constructive comments.”
VinFast, which plans to build a factory in North Carolina, shipped its second batch of electric cars to North America in April with the aim to start delivering to customers in the US this month. It also plans to send its first vehicles to Europe in July.
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Vingroup announced earlier this month that it plans to go public in the US by merging with special purpose acquisition company Black Spade Acquisition Co. in the second half of the year.
(Updates with comments from VinFast CEO in the fourth paragraph.)
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