VinFast has had a rough start with its expansion into the US and Canada, and the problems keep piling up as the Vietnamese automaker has been forced to recall all 999 VF 8 SUVs it shipped to California last year. The recall itself wasn’t the only bad news, as the notice also revealed they have only sold 111 of those to customers.
In November last year VinFast exported its first batch of VF 8 SUVs to California, filling a cargo ship with 999 units with the hope to begin deliveries to customers before the end of the year. That never happened, and for good reason as they had to fix a number of issues with the electric SUV, both involving physical parts and also software. Deliveries finally started in March, and the automaker has been quiet ever since about how many have actually been handed over to customers, while early reviews have lambasted VinFast for rushing the VF 8 to market.
According to the recall notice, VinFast has only delivered 111 units to customers. Of the remaining 735 vehicles, 153 are in “fleet service,” which if that means what we think it means, VinFast has more service vehicles than actual vehicles on the road in the US.
As for the recall itself, it was issued because the main head unit (MHU, aka display) can go blank, leaving the driver unable to tell what’s going on with the car, like its speed or selected gear. According to the recall notice, which you can read below, there have already been 18 reports of this happening on 14 different vehicles. Fortunately the fix will be relatively simple – an over-the-air (OTA) software update that will be deployed starting today, May 25, 2023.
Presumably the fix will also be deployed to the 781 VF 8 SUVs that just arrived in Canada before they are delivered to customers starting next month.
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