VinFast Dealerships, Maple Leaf Battery Factory, Jack Dorsey deletes Instagram

Shoot us a Text.

We’ve got that Friday feeling as we skid into the weekend talking about VinFast’s dealership thinking, a new Canadian battery plant, and the Twitter founder says goodbye to Instagram.

Show Notes with links:

• Vietnamese EV maker VinFast, whose market valuation briefly surpassed that of Ford and GM when it debuted earlier this week, but fell by 33.6% since,  surprised some as it announced a shift in its U.S. distribution strategy, moving away from Tesla's direct-to-consumer model to include selling through dealers.
  • The company has already shipped only 3,000 vehicles to North America and has been plagued with quality and delivery issues and are currently building a US factory 
  • U.S. dealers are intrigued but seek more details about VinFast's sales strategy, dealer requirements, parts distribution, and vehicle warranty.
  • CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy of VinFast: "Opening our own stores is great but it takes a lot of time. Joining forces with other partners to go faster has always been our nature."
  • Lots of Dealers weigh in throughout the Auto News article expressing a variety of  concerns and optimism 
    • Andrew DiFeo, dealer principal at Hyundai of St. Augustine:"The first thing you have to look at is are you going to be around in five years? That's a big concern."  TEXTED TO US SEPARATELY : “As established brands with loyal customers come out with competitive product , the newer entrants to the market will have an even harder time gaining market share.  The car market in the United States is the most mature in the world. The pie is not getting bigger. We really don’t need more brands….if anything we need less “
    • George Glassman, president of Glassman Automotive Group:"Is there room for more brands? Yeah, there probably is. It's just too early to tell." "I'd need to see more before I could make an intelligent decision.
• Ford, alongside partners EcoPro BM Co. and SK On Co., is investing over $890 million to establish a battery materials plant in Bécancour, Quebec. The facility, named EcoPro CAM Canada is set to open in 2026.
  • This marks Ford's inaugural investment in Quebec, aiming to produce materials for Ford EVs and contribute to North America's EV ecosystem.
  • According to IRA tax credit rules, EVs and batteries produced in North America (including Mexico and Canada) may qualify for significant tax breaks
• At 1am last night, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey tweeted “deleted my instagram account after 12 years. Was one of the first 10 accounts I believe, and one of the first angel investors. Who will they give the @jack handle to?
  • Responding to the comments, he said “all the reasons are too meta to be interesting.
  • When asked why he uses an iphone: All trade offs. I generally trust Apple more than others given their business model and stated values, but have been disappointed in their approach to the App Store broadly.

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/

JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/