Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn, renowned for manufacturing Apple’s iPhone, announced on Tuesday that it hopes to one day produce cars for Tesla as it enters the auto industry to diversify its business.
Foxconn has been expanding its electric vehicle business for the past two years. According to CNBC, The Model B sports crossover hatchback and the Model V pickup truck were introduced by the company at its third annual Hon Hai Tech Day.
Nonetheless, Foxconn does not intend to market its own line of automobiles. It aims to develop and manufacture automobiles for other automakers instead.
“Foxconn is not in the business of selling its own EV brand. But, yes, we want our customers to sell a lot of EVs,” Chairman Liu Young-way said in pre-recorded remarks.
Furthermore, the company asserts that it may lower development costs by a third and the time it takes to build a car by half.
Electrek reported that Foxconn had presented its whole lineup of electric vehicles, all of which can be produced at the plants it has recently bought in Asia and the US.
Chairman Liu Young also announced Tuesday that the company aims to manufacture 5% of the world’s electric vehicles by 2025. He also expressed his hope to have Tesla as its customer.
“Based on our past records for the PC and cellphone markets … we’re at about 40-45% of the overall market share. So, ambitions-wise, hopefully we are able to achieve the same kind of achievement like in the ICT (information and communications technology) industry, but we will start small, which is about 5% in 2025. I hope one day we can do Tesla cars for Tesla,” Chairman Liu Young-way said.
He also boasted about the company’s supply chain resilience by stating, “Supply chain resilience has always been Foxconn’s DNA. Our global footprint in 24 countries gives us a huge advantage to meet EV industry demands.”
However, it must be noted that Tesla produces its own vehicles in its factories worldwide, including those in the US, Berlin, and Shanghai.
Another ambition announced by Foxconn’s chairman is that he wants their customers to sell “a lot of EVs.”
“Our heartfelt hope is that Taiwan can seize this once-in-a-hundred years, rare EV business opportunity,” Chairman Liu Young-way said.
Over the past few decades, Foxconn has grown its company by producing and assembling consumer electronics. In fact, it has performed remarkably well for Apple in the face of a global supply chain crisis that has particularly impacted the electronics industry.
Now, it aims to enter the auto industry as part of its effort to diversify its business. The five concept cars demonstrate Foxconn’s ability to “design and build EVs that are good-looking and can stand up to safety,” Chairman Liu Young-way said.
For businesses wanting to establish electric vehicle initiatives without having to make significant expenditures in their own design and production operations, Foxconn may be a solution.
However, it is worth noting that Tesla intends its manufacturing to maintain its competitive advantage in the future. Therefore, it would be illogical for the automaker to outsource its manufacturing to Foxconn.
