Source of this article: Times Finance Author: He Qing
On October 18, Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Group held a technology day and released two new cars, hatchback Model B and electric pickup truck Model V and the mass-produced version of Model C. In addition to the luxury sedan Model E released on Technology Day last year, the electric bus Model T, etc., in a year, Foxconn has released five new cars. At the
Technology Day event, Liu Yangwei, chairman of Hon Hai Group, even made a bold statement: "We used to build PCs and mobile phones. Now, we want to build EVs." It is reported that Model B, Model V, and Model C will be gradually produced in factories in Taiwan, China, as well as factories in Thailand and the United States. Hon Hai founder Terry Gou made another appearance in Model B to stand up for Foxconn’s new car.
Image source: Foxconn official account
According to media reports, at the Science and Technology Day event on the 18th, Liu Yangwei also expressed that he hopes that one day Hon Hai can help Tesla build cars.
"Compared with mobile phones or smartwatch , cars are very complex. You can't find suppliers like Foxconn to say that they are making cars for me." In order to highlight the complexity of making cars, Tesla CEO Musk joked about the media a few years ago.
. According to public reports, Terry Gou once said that OEM electric vehicles are easy for Foxconn. "A car is just four-wheeled iPhone . Since we can build iPhone, why can't we build electric cars?"
"King of OEM" ended up building cars
and entering the automotive field. Foxconn has ambitions.
"Tesla is the iPhone in electric car , and Foxconn hopes to become Android in the electric car field." As early as 2020, Foxconn shouted this slogan when it officially entered the car manufacturing industry.
According to public reports, Liu Yangwei previously stated that the company's goal is to occupy about 5% of the global electric vehicle market by the end of 2025. By then, Foxconn also hopes to achieve the ability to produce 500,000 to 750,000 electric vehicles per year.
Guo Taiming personally drove the Model B to debut. Image source: Hon Hai Technology Day live screenshot
At the Technology Day event on the 18th, Liu Yangwei revealed that the three-hour order for the mass-produced Model C has exceeded 15,000 vehicles.
It is reported that Model C is the first electric vehicle developed by Honghua Advanced, a joint venture established by Hon Hai and Yulon Group in 2020. It is also the first model mass-produced based on the MIH modular platform. It is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2023.
The new prototype Model B is based on the Model C platform, with a range of 450 kilometers and an acceleration of 100 kilometers in 6.6 seconds.
As for the Model V electric pickup, it has a load capacity of 1 ton and a tow capacity of 3 tons in design, and uses a hatchback 5-seater space design . Hon Hai pointed out that the car can be regarded as a milestone in Hon Hai's completion of the middle puzzle of passenger cars and large commercial vehicles.
sorted out public information. As early as 2005, Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai Group acquired 100% equity of Taiwan Antai Electric for 370 million html and began to enter the automotive electronics field.
Subsequently, Hon Hai gradually made plans in multiple parties in the automotive industry. In 2013, it has successively become a supplier of car companies such as Tesla, Mercedes-Benz , BMW , etc. In 2014, Foxconn announced a cooperation with BAIC to jointly invest in the research, development, production and manufacturing of a new generation of power batteries. In 2015, the wave of new forces in car manufacturing swept. Foxconn joined hands with Tencent and Harmony Auto to jointly found Harmony Futeng, expanding its automobile business to the complete vehicle field (in 2017, Foxconn and Tencent withdrew one after another)...
After the official announcement of car manufacturing in 2020, Foxconn continued to expand potential business opportunities in the electric vehicle field. Following the joint venture with Taiwan Yulon Group to establish Honghua Advanced in 2020, in addition to establishing the MIH alliance, it has also successively established different forms of business cooperation models with Byton and Geely .
In 2022, Foxconn acquired the factory of the United States commercial electric light truck supplier Lordstown Ohio and established a North American electric vehicle manufacturing base; and cooperated with another electric vehicle company Fisker to build new electric vehicles. According to Liu Yangwei, it is expected that Fisker's new generation of mass-produced cars will only take 24 months from concept to mass production, which can be reduced by more than half compared to traditional car manufacturing.Can
car manufacturing bring more room for imagination?
"Foxconn's release of new cars highlights the company's ambitious plan, hoping to achieve diversification, and no longer limits to the production of consumer electronics for Apple and other technology companies." Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Association, said.
"According to our past records in the personal computer and mobile phone markets... our share of the overall market is about 40% to 45%. So, ambitiously, we hope to achieve the same achievements as in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, but we will start with the small goal and account for about 5% by 2025," said Liu Yangwei. Foxconn hopes to expand its business to replicate its success in assembling consumer electronics when building electric vehicles for automotive brands.
However, the level of money burning in car manufacturing is self-evident. NIO CEOLi Bin once said that the funding threshold for car manufacturing requires reserves, and now it may not be possible to do it without 40 billion. Xiaomi officially announced that it will build a car, and it plans to invest US$10 billion in 10 years.
Industry insiders believe that Foxconn has many years of OEM experience in the field of electronic products, gradually entering the automotive industry through acquisitions and joint ventures, and has certain advantages in terms of capital and partners, but whether the advantages can be fully utilized still needs to be observed.
Haitong International Securities pointed out in its research report that the MIH alliance is an active exploration of the industrial ecological model of the automobile industry, which is of positive significance for reducing costs and improving efficiency in the entire industrial chain; with the intensification of competition in new energy vehicles, OEM production provides a new business model, which is expected to accelerate the mass production of new power brands.
At the Science and Technology Day event, Liu Yangwei also repeatedly emphasized that the original intention of Hon Hai Group's CDMS will not change, that is, it is a commissioned design and manufacturing service company (CDMS) in the automotive industry. In addition, Liu Yangwei said that Hon Hai and Tesla are not competitive, and hope that one day Hon Hai can help Tesla build cars.
It is reported that all Tesla's current electric vehicles are produced by its own factory, and it has been rapidly expanding its production capacity. Tesla's second-quarter financial report released in July showed that the annual production capacity of the Shanghai factory has exceeded 750,000 vehicles, making it the super factory with the highest production capacity of Tesla. According to Foxconn's small goal, it is expected to achieve industrial production of 500,000 to 750,000 electric vehicles per year in 2025.
