VinFast, the Vietnamese automaker, said last week that it would postpone the start of its electric car plant in the United States until 2025, citing "procedural delays."

In March last year, a subsidiary of Vingroup JSC announced that it would build a $4 billion electric car factory on 712 hectares of land in Chatham County, North Carolina, with plans to start production in July 2024.

"We need more time to complete the administrative process," VinFast said in an extension statement, though they did not specify when the plant is expected to start operating in 2025.

VinFast received a license from the local government last month and began to build a new factory. Of course, it still needs permission from the United States Army Corps of Engineers to minimize damage to water quality and wetlands.

According to the company's latest prospectus released on Thursday, the first phase of the plant, which includes $1.4 billion in construction capital expenditure, is expected to create more than 7000 jobs and produce 150000 cars a year.

Last year, VinFast applied to be listed on NASDAQ to raise money for its plant construction. VinFast began selling cars outside Vietnam for the first time last week, delivering its first 45 cars in California on its first day.

Its income in 2022 was 14.9 trillion dong (currently about 4.366 billion yuan), down about 6.9% from 2021. The company's latest prospectus showed a 55 per cent increase in net loss from 32.2 trillion dong to 49.8 trillion dong.