Foxconn CEO: Will not sell its own brand of electric cars, hope to be Tesla OEM

On October 19, Liu Yangwei, Foxconn’s chairman and chief executive, said at the company’s annual technology day on Tuesday that he hopes to one day produce electric vehicles for Tesla.

Foxconn, the assembler of Apple’s iPhone, plans to expand its business into transportation. Liu Yangwei made the comments while unveiling two Foxconn electric vehicle prototypes, the Model B crossover SUV and the Model V pickup. Foxconn hopes that the two prototypes will serve as a design reference for companies planning to outsource their electric vehicle manufacturing.

“Foxconn won’t sell electric cars under its own brand,” Liu Yangwei reportedly said at the annual tech day, adding, “I hope one day we can make electric cars for Tesla.”

Although its electric vehicle business is fledgling, Foxconn has set ambitious goals. “Based on our past track record in the PC and mobile phone markets… our market share is about 40 to 45 percent.” Same results. But we’ll start with a small target of about 5% [of the overall market] by 2025.”

A year ago, Foxconn showed the public three prototypes of electric vehicles, the Model C electric SUV, the Model E electric sedan and the Model T electric bus. According to reports, Yulon Motor plans to start selling the Model C next year, when the all-electric SUV will be named the Luxgen N7. The report also said that electric buses produced by Foxconn have been put into use.

According to the report, Liu Yangwei hopes Foxconn can apply the company’s expertise in technical manufacturing to car manufacturing, halving design time and reducing development costs by a third. Foxconn’s electric vehicle business started in 2019 and has signed a number of high-profile deals, including joint ventures with Yulon Motors and U.S. electric vehicle start-up Lordstown Motors. Foxconn acquired Lordstown Motors’ Ohio plant as a manufacturing base for the U.S. market.

Despite Foxconn’s size, some projects have not lived up to their promises. Foxconn had planned to invest billions of dollars to build a large LCD factory in Wisconsin. Although the factory has already held a groundbreaking ceremony and started construction, Foxconn’s promise has not been fully realized.