Foxconn showcases electric car prototypes
revealed Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn has unveiled its first three electric vehicle prototypes, underscoring its ambitious plans to diversify away from its role in building consumer electronics for Apple and other tech companies.
The company wants to turn the nascent auto sector into a $35.78 billion business in just five years.
The Taiwanese company presented two models of an electric passenger car and a prototype of an electric bus at the annual Foxconn Technology Day event in Taipei.
“We have implemented approximately one collaborative project each month in the past year to ensure the capacity of our supply chain and potential markets for electric vehicles,” said the president of the company.
The company aims to earn NT$1 trillion annually in revenue related to electric vehicles by 2026.
Foxconn’s total revenue for 2020 was 5.35 trillion New Taiwan dollars. It estimates that its electric vehicle business may contribute more than NT$10 billion this year for the first time.
Regional manufacturing is a major trend for the electric car industry as producing cars closer to the markets where they are sold helps manufacturers keep costs down. The company is expected to announce soon the details of plans to produce electric cars in Europe.
It took the company less than a year to be able to introduce its own electric vehicles to the public. The three electric vehicle prototypes were manufactured by Foxtron, a joint venture between Foxconn and Yulon Motor, a Taiwanese automaker founded nearly 70 years ago that produces Nissan and Mitsubishi vehicles for the domestic market. It also has its own brand, Luxgen.
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Foxconn announces electric car project
Model C, Model E, and Model T are designed for mass production. They also act as reference designs that brands can customize to their own specifications.
The company produces cars and buses for brands in China, North America, Europe and other markets.
The company said: Model C arrives by 2023. Model E comes later. The Model T, targeting the mass transit sector, arrives early next year in southern Taiwan.
The three electric vehicle prototypes are based on designs from MIH Consortium, an open hardware and software platform led by Foxconn.
MIH aims to reshape the traditional automotive supply chain by setting industry standards and developing combinations of hardware and software that automakers can use to reduce vehicle development time and cost.
Read also: Foxconn is building a new electric car for Fisker
