Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast said it is recalling all of the first batch of vehicles it shipped to the United States last year following a safety warning issued by U.S. authorities, Reuters reports.
The move came after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said 999 of VinFast’s VF 8 vehicles suffered a software error in the dashboard display that prevented critical safety information from being shown and “may increase the risk of a crash”.
More than 700 of the 999 units are still in VinFast’s hands and have not been delivered to customers or fleet services, the NHTSA estimated.
The announcement comes just two weeks after Black Spade Acquisition announced a business combination agreement with the EV maker at an equity value of over $23 billion.
The SPAC’s shares have remained essentially unchanged following the recall announcement.
The business combination values VinFast at an enterprise value of approximately $27 billion.
The SPAC has approximately $169 million of cash in trust, which will go to VinFast, less any redemptions. Read more.
