The Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted on Monday to terminate its $400 million economic development agreement between the county and Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast, dealing another blow to the ill-fated project in Moncure.
In May, state Attorney General Jeff Jackson filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state’s Department of Commerce for a breach of agreements with the company. He said in a press release that through the lawsuit, the state is exercising its contractual right to acquire the property, thereby, protecting taxpayer investments while preserving the site for future economic development opportunities.
In an emailed statement to Carolina Journal, Chatham County Manager Bryan Thompson said that VinFast failed to meet the performance obligations and project deadlines outlined in the county’s economic development agreement, and as a result, determined that termination of the agreement was warranted.
“Our focus remains on protecting the interests of Chatham County residents and advancing long-term economic development opportunities that benefit our community,” he said in the statement. “We remain committed to working with our state partners to support responsible economic growth and investments that deliver on their commitments.”
The board directed its solicitor to provide notice to VinFast Manufacturing USA, LLC, to terminate the agreement for plans at the Triangle Innovation Point site where the factory was supposed produce 150,000 electric vehicles per year in Phase 1.
“We are continuing to work with our partners at the state on this important site,” C. Michael Smith, president of the Chatham Economic Development Corporation, said in a statement to CJ also confirming the news.
He added that the county received unprecedented national and international attention thanks to the project, infrastructure planning and investment accelerated, and that the site has been validated by one of the world’s largest industrial investment processes.
“Communities with development-ready mega-sites are rare,” Smith said. “If the site becomes available, Chatham County would have an opportunity to market it to a wide range of industries seeking large-scale locations. We are optimistic about its long-term potential for new jobs and investment in Moncure.”
VinFast first announced plans in 2022 to build the 1,800-acre site.
Plans included a 2.85 million square foot complex comprising eight buildings, including a press shop, the tallest building at 75.2 feet; and a general assembly building, the largest at 995,900 square feet. Other buildings included a body shop, central energy plant, paint shop, guard house, pump house, and waste building.
In 2022, the embattled company received a Job Development and Investment Grant (JDIG) of up to $316.1 million in state reimbursements over three decades, along with the $400-million incentive package from Chatham County, all of which were contingent on the company meeting its hiring goal of 7,500 and investing $4 billion.
Then Gov. Roy Cooper attended the groundbreaking in July 2023 with company officials on what was being called the “crown jewel of VinFast’s global expansion.”
But that jewel has had plenty of tarnish.
The state was spending $450 million on infrastructure around the site, including a new highway to gain access in and out of the site.
JDIGs are contingent on a company’s agreement with the state before the company receives any funding.
Merry Oaks Baptist Church, which stood on the border between Moncure and New Hill on the corner of Old US-1 and New Elam Church Road since 1888, met with a wrecking ball in June 2025 to make way for the highway.
The church, along with 27 homes and five businesses, had to forfeit its land under eminent domain to make way for the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s highway plans.
The company, which has received poor reviews, had been whittling away at its original plan over the years in the building of the factory.
In December 2023 the square footage was scaled down to 782,255 square feet. The plant was scheduled to open in 2024 but was pushed back to a 2025 opening.
In April 2024, the company submitted revisions for the building, with a new size of 810,100 square feet.
But, VinFast’s focus then shifted to Asia in 2024, with a groundbreaking on an EV assembly plant in Indonesia. It has also pivoted to markets in India and the Philippines, and has remained somewhat strong in its home country of Vietnam.
In March, the company planned to resume construction in April, lowering its hiring goals from 7,500 to 1,400.
Jackson’s lawsuit states that the company has defaulted on its agreements with the state which was to create 7,500 jobs and over $3 billion in private investments in order to receive all grant payments with the state and that “VinFast’s continued inaction all but guarantees further imminent default” and “will continue to default on its obligations in several key ways,” noting that each gives the state the right to take the land back contractually.
“VinFast agreed to build a factory and create jobs for North Carolinians – it didn’t do either,” Jackson said in the release. “When North Carolina makes a deal, we build in protection for taxpayers. VinFast broke the deal, so we’re using that protection to find a project for this site that will create jobs.”
The first way, the suit states, is that the company failed to commence “vertical construction of buildings and structures on Parcel A” of the site by Jan. 1, 2024. VinFast’s default, therefore, gives the state contractual rights to purchase the site.
As a result, the suit says, “it is now impossible for the Company to meet its contractual deadline to have an operational manufacturing plant on the Site by July 1, 2026,” and that the company admitted publicly that it will be unable to construct an operational facility until at least 2028.
It also states that the new plans that the company announced in March would not meet the jobs or the investment commitments to the state.
Additionally, Jackson’s suit said that since the facility wouldn’t be operational until 2028, it won’t be able to meet its commitment of creating the 1,750 scaled down jobs for the site by Dec. 31.
Finally, the suit states that VinFast ceased operations on the site in December 2024.
“VinFast has failed to take any concrete action that shows it can and will fulfill its obligations to the state,” the suit says.
According to the press release, the North Carolina Department of Justice notified VinFast in January that it had defaulted on its agreement and that the state intended to protect its investment by exercising its right to acquire the site. In response, VinFast argued that it had met its construction deadlines and would have a facility opened on a delayed 2028 timeline. The statements says the state’s action seeks to protect taxpayer investments and enforce the commitments tied to the project.
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Department of Commerce and VinFast have both filed documents this month asking a judge to keep portions of a lawsuit against the automaker out of public view.
Lawyers with Jackson’s Department of Justice filed a July 2 motion to seal an amended complaint and an attached exhibit.
“Plaintiff has done so because the Amended Complaint quotes and paraphrases materials that have been designated as confidential by the Defendants and may be exempt from public disclosure pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.2,” state government lawyers wrote.
VinFast’s lawyers filed a brief supporting the government’s plan to keep the complaint and exhibit sealed permanently.
The company has been plagued with bad reviews and the hemorrhaging of money over the years, including plans to sell its two main factories and shift $7 billion worth of debt, which had been raising concerns.
Carolina Journal reached out to VinFast for a comment but didn’t hear back prior to publication of this article.
