People walk next to a VinFast logo on a screen during the press day at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California last year. - Reuters
HANOI, Feb 6 (Reuters): Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast is cutting its workforce in the United States amid a restructuring in its major overseas market as the startup grapples with a stalled shipment of its first cars and prepares for a potential stock listing, the company said on Monday.
A spokesperson said headcount would not shrink in Vietnam where most of the company's staff is located.
In another development, Vietnam's national index of industrial production decreased 8 per cent year on year in January, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Friday.
The processing and manufacturing sector, the main driver behind the decline, went down by 9.1 per cent.
The electricity production and distribution sector shrank by 3.4 per cent while the water supply and waste management sector went up by 3.7 per cent, said the office.
Explaining the overall decline, the office said, the Lunar New Year, the country's biggest celebration, fell in January, leading to the number of working days in the month reduced by 8-10 days compared to the same period last year.
In addition, the downward trend was also contributed by the decreasing number and scale of orders, it said.
In January, the industrial production index decreased 14.6 percent against December.
In the period, those witnessing the largest output declines included the production of motor vehicles (23.9 per cent), clothing (21 per cent) and electrical equipment (19.1 per cent).
As of Jan. 1, 2023, the total number of employees in the industrial sector decreased by 0.9 per cent year on year, said the office.
