Taiwan’s manufacturer of iPhones Foxconn is now planning to venture into electric vehicles (EVs) in India but considering its top-quality products, the company may not compromise on EV quality but it must not price them too steeply either.
The India unit will help the Taiwanese firm line up a plan to expand its Asia manufacturing supply chain.
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| Foxtron EV concept -- source: Foxtron. |
It is Foxconn’s EV arm, Foxtron, which is contemplating manufacturing EVs in India and Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Indonesia.
The Tamil Nadu government is gearing up to approach Foxconn to set up its EV manufacturing plant in the state.
Foxconn already has facilities in India. Besides Apple’s iPhones, it also makes smartphones for Chinese brands in India like Xiaomi.
Foxconn’s interest in EVs was triggered by the burgeoning demand in the Indian market, even for commercial electric vehicles.
As per a Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association of India (FADA) report, 17,804 commercial EVs were sold in India in the last financial year. This is two and half times higher than the sales in FY21.
Foxconn is a newbie in the electric vehicle segment. Last year, it bought a manufacturing plant for making EVs in the North American market. Now, the company plans to do just that in Southeast Asia and India.
Foxconn chairman Young Liu just had a host of top-level parleys in India. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, minister of electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Liu also held a meeting with Akarsh Hebbar, Vedanta Group’s global managing director of display and semiconductor business. Foxconn is eyeing a pact with the Vedanta Group for semiconductor manufacturing in India.
Besides manufacturing smartphones for Apple and Xiaomi, Foxconn also makes EV parts for Ather Energy and Ola Electric.
Last October, the Taiwanese giant unveiled three prototype EVs — an SUV (Model C), a sedan (Model E), and a bus (Model T), all of which will be under the Foxtron brand.
The Model T bus may have a projected range of 400 km (about 250 miles) and top speed of 120 km per hour (75 miles per hour). It comes with technology like pedestrian warnings, advanced temperature management and high crash-worthiness.
Foxtron’s Model C would have high efficiency and do 0 to 62 miles (99 km) per hour in 3.8 seconds and may cost $35,000.
The Model E can do 0-62 miles (99 km) per hour in a whopping 2.8 seconds and has a 750 km (466 miles) range on a single charge. That’s incredible.
Foxconn had said in October 2021 that with the three electric vehicle prototypes, it plans to see Taiwanese $1 billion of business in the next five years.
It could take at least two years for Foxtron to put its cars on the Indian road. The new Model C will first roll out by 2023 in Taiwan probably, and the luxury Model E will follow suit.
The Model T, which is in the mass transportation category, will be seen on the road in Taiwan next year.
Quality-conscious iPhone maker Foxconn — or Foxtron for that matter — will not compromise on its car performance or quality but it is to be seen what EV segments it enters into in the medium term and how judiciously it prices its cars before we know how it would be placed compared to its competitors in India.
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