US auto safety regulator opens probe into some VinFast cars

(Reuters) -The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary investigation into some electric vehicles manufactured by Vietnam's VinFast, it said on Thursday, over reports that the Lane Keep Assist System was not functioning correctly.

The investigation into about 3,118 VinFast vehicles came after the regulator identified 14 reports from drivers of VinFast 2023 and 2024 model years alleging that the system "has difficulty detecting lanes on the roadway, provides improper steering inputs, and is difficult to override by the driver", NHTSA said in a statement.

The preliminary evaluation will assess the scope, frequency, and severity of the potential problem and to determine if a safety related defect exists in the subject vehicles, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said.

VinFast, which started selling vehicles in the United States in 2023, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its chairwoman said last year it sold fewer than 1,000 units in North America.

Earlier this year NHTSA also launched an investigation into a crash on April 24 involving a VinFast, VF 8 electric vehicle in Pleasanton, California, in which four people died.

A complaint filed with the agency on April 29 said steering may have been an issue in the crash that killed a couple along with their children aged 13 and 9.

(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Susan Fenton)