Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast said it is recalling the entire first batch of vehicles it shipped to the United States last year following a safety warning issued by US authorities.
The move came after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said 999 of VinFast’s VF 8 vehicles suffered a software error in the dashboard display that prevented critical safety information from being shown and “may increase the risk of a crash”.
More than 700 of the 999 units are still in VinFast’s hands and have not been delivered to customers or fleet services, the NHTSA estimated.
Also on AF: VinFast Expecting 7-Fold Bump in EV Sales With US Expansion
VinFast said it issued a voluntary safety recall of the VF 8 City Edition on which the dashboard screen goes blank while driving or stationary.
“VinFast is not aware of any field reports of incidents. The company is issuing this recall out of an abundance of caution,” it said.
In documents filed with the NHTSA, VinFast said it first became aware of the dashboard issue on April 27 while reading customer comments and concerns. According to the safety agency, the problem has been documented 18 times.
The NHTSA said VinFast will introduce a software update that should fix the issue. The fix was scheduled to go live on May 25 with notification letters being sent out to owners by May 29.
The recall statement comes less than two weeks after VinFast announced it would list in the United States via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Black Spade Acquisition.
The two companies estimated the new entity would have a potential equity value of $23 billion, assuming no Black Spade shareholders elect to cash out.
Earlier this year, VinFast recalled 2,781 VF 8 cars sold domestically over an issue with the front brake of some models.
Founded in 2017, the Vietnamese carmaker began selling EVs in California this year. It has shipped two batches of VF 8 cars to the United States totalling 2,097 units.
It is also planning to send its first vehicles to Europe in July.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
Also read:
Vietnam’s VinFast Finally Rolls Out VF9 Electric SUV
EV-Maker VinFast Delivers First Cars to US Customers
VinFast Targets US as it Hands Over First Electric SUVs
Vietnam’s VinFast Taps Banks for $4 Billion for US EV Plant
