The Taiwanese conglomerate manufactures iPhones, iPads, and a variety of other products. There’s a good possibility your next electric automobile — or perhaps your first electric car — will be manufactured by the same business that makes the iPhone you’re holding right now. No, we’re not referring about Apple’s long-rumored self-driving car, which Bloomberg claims has been postponed until 2026. Google is also not developing its own Tesla competitor.
Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics conglomerate that manufactures popular items such as the iPhone, iPad, Kindle, and Nintendo Switch, is foraying into the field of electric automobiles. However, rather than selling EVs under its own brand, it intends to develop and produce vehicles for both existing automakers and the next generation of EV startups.
In other words, Foxconn intends to accomplish for Tesla what it presently does for Apple. In October, Foxconn’s chairman stated that the business hopes to manufacture 40-45% of the world’s EVs, mirroring its success in electronics.
Foxconn presented its first EV prototypes last year and has lost no time in lining up a customer list in the automotive industry. Earlier this year, Apple purchased a former General Motors facility in Lordstown, Ohio, from Lordstown Motors, a failing automotive startup. Lordstown Motors has only lately begun sending customers Foxconn-made electric pickup vehicles.
Fisker, another EV startup, has hired Foxconn to build its second vehicle, the Pear, in Ohio beginning in 2024. Foxconn will also create prototypes for Indi EV, another company. It has also formed an alliance with Yulon Motor of Taiwan.
Volkswagen is contemplating contracting Foxconn to produce its new Scout-branded electric SUV and pickup truck for US consumers, according to a November report in Germany’s Automobilwoche.
According to Bill Russo, founder and CEO of Automobility, a Shanghai-based auto-industry consultancy organisation, Foxconn’s entry into EVs is a wise one. Because it can acquire components in such massive quantities, the firm has found remarkable success shouldering the capital-intensive elements of making electronics. And, he believes, it is well-positioned to do the same for EV manufacturers, who are anxious to lower the massive expenses necessary to create and sell a vehicle.
Furthermore, as automobiles become more internet-connected and automated, they require a growing number of the electronic components that Foxconn is experienced with.
“That sounds a lot like the products Foxconn manufactures today. A lot of screens, a lot of processors, a lot of material that they can acquire in large enough quantities “to cut prices, Russo stated.
Tu Le, general director of automotive consultancy Sino Auto Insights, believes Foxconn’s participation would help EV companies who lack the capital to develop their own plants. Rivian and Lucid, two US upstarts, have spent large sums putting up their own manufacturing, but not all new EV firms have that kind of resources.
“There will be a lot of asset-light EV companies that will come out in the next 24-30 months in the United States, and they’ll require a factory with capacity that can provide them a finished item at a wholesale price,” he said.
And Le believes that current manufacturers with weak labour links, like as Tesla, would eventually outsource production to Foxconn. But first, the corporation must demonstrate that it can produce electric SUVs and pickup trucks to the same high standards as its iPads and iPhones.
“They have a lot of potential if they can demonstrate that the first vehicles that roll off the line in Ohio are of the greatest quality, dependability, and safety standards that Americans demand,” Le added.
The company’s yearly sales in 2021 was 5.99 trillion New Taiwan dollars (US$175 billion), and it was rated 20th in the 2022 Fortune Global 500. It is the world’s leading producer and provider of technological services.
Foxconn, headquartered in Tucheng, Taiwan, manufactures electronics for a number of well-known American, Chinese, Canadian, and Japanese corporations. Foxconn produced popular goods such as the iPad, iPod, Kindle, BlackBerry, Nokia handsets, Sony devices, and even Apple’s iPhone.
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