Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co Ltd (鴻華先進), an electric vehicle joint venture between Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), has applied to list on the Taiwan Innovation Board, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday.
Foxtron, 51 percent owned by Hon Hai, has developed four electric vehicle prototypes: Model B, Model C, Model E and Model T. It has an initial capital of NT$15.91 billion (US$517.13 million).
Hon Hai aims to use Foxtron to expand into the electric vehicle market and diversify from its iPhone assembly business.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Shipments of the commercial version of Model C, the first electric sedan developed by Foxtron, would begin in the fourth quarter, Hon Hai has said.
ORDERS
The company has received a pre-order of 15,000 to 20,000 units for the model.
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), an auto brand of Yulon, is the first company adopting Model C to build its new electric car, Luxgen n7.
Model T, an electric bus, became commercially available last year on the domestic market.
Hon Hai is also seeking to expand its electric vehicle assembly business overseas.
Aside from auto start-ups such as Fisker, Hon Hai has also approached traditional auto original equipment makers to make electric vehicles, company chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors last month.
The company expects to secure assembly deals from traditional automakers in 2025, as intensifying price competition would spur those firms to outsource manufacturing to save costs, Liu told shareholders yesterday.
“We have approached a couple of big-name companies,” Liu said.
To tap into the Japanese electric vehicle market, Hon Hai in January named Jun Seki as the company’s chief strategy officer for its electric vehicle business, Liu said.
Seki’s rich management experience in the Japanese auto industry and global electric vehicle supply chains would assist the company in integrating electric vehicle resources and development in the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, he said.
JAPANESE COOPERATION
Hon Hai aims to collaborate with Japanese companies to develop new and cost-efficient auto components through the MIH electric vehicle platform initiated by the company, allowing them to build electric vehicles at lower costs and bring them to the market faster, Liu said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS