North Carolina has landed its first auto manufacturer: a Vietnamese startup with plans to build a new line of electric cars in the greater Triangle area, a source tells The News & Observer. A legislative source close to the state’s negotiations process said a Vietnamese auto manufacturer will invest at least $5 billion to build a plant at Moncure’s Triangle Innovation Point, a 2,150-acre “megasite” just north of Sanford. The new facility will employ as many as 13,000 people, the source said…

VinFast launched a line of gasoline-powered cars with BMW-licensed engines in 2019, only for Vietnamese consumers. Vuong, who is chairman of VinFast’s parent company, Vingroup, announced in late 2020 that he would back the company’s global ambitions with $2 billion of his personal fortune, according to Bloomberg. Last year, the company announced it would headquarter U.S. operations from Los Angeles, but had not secured a location for its North American production facility.