Taiwan's Foxconn says it wants customers to sell 'a lot' of EVs

By Reuters October 17, 2022 | 07:53 pm PT

People wear masks to protect themselves from coronavirus disease while listening to the annual general meeting at the lobby of Foxconn's office in Taipei, Taiwan, June 23, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Ann Wang

Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, said on Tuesday it was not in the business of selling its own electric vehicle (EV) brand but wanted its customers to sell EVs in large numbers by opening up the "closed loop" of auto manufacturing.

The ambition lines up with Taiwan-based Foxconn's plans to ramp up EV business to help diversify away from its role of assembling consumer gadgets like iPhones for Apple Inc and other tech firms.

Speaking at the company's annual Tech Day, Chairman Liu Young-way said that along with an industry alliance known as the Mobility in Harmony platform, Foxconn was "opening up the closed-loop nature of traditional automaking" to halve design times and slash development costs by a third.

"Foxconn is not in the business of selling its own EV brand. But, yes, we want our customers to sell a lot of EVs," Liu said in pre-recorded remarks.

The company has expanded into areas including EVs and semiconductors in recent years, announcing deals with U.S. startup Fisker Inc and Indian conglomerate Vedanta Ltd.

Pre-orders for the Luxgen n7 EV, built by Foxtron, a joint venture between Foxconn and Taiwanese car maker Yulon Motor Co Ltd hit 15,000 in less than two days, he added.

"Despite the challenges of conflict in Europe and Covid globally, Foxconn has maintained our EV strategy," Liu said.

"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."