Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進), an electric vehicle development venture between Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is on schedule to deliver its new electric vehicle, the Model C, but the vehicle’s commercial launch will hinge on the decision of its first customer, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車).
Foxtron’s statement came after Yulon president Yao Chen-hsiang (姚振祥) told reporters on Thursday that it would be a challenge for the automaker to ship the latest electric model, code-named the Luxgen N7, to Luxgen at the end of this year. Yulon is in the process of conducting a series of tests including safety tests on the new all-electric sports utility vehicle, Yao said.
The Luxgen N7 is based on the Model C prototype developed by Foxtron. Yulon, the parent company of Luxgen, manufactures electric vehicles for Luxgen and some gasoline-fueled cars for Nissan Motor Corp. Since Luxgen started taking preorders in September last year, the company has received about 20,000 preorders for the N7 model, which carries a price tag of about NT$1 million (US$30,990.45), which is less than prices of other electric vehicles on the market.
Photo: Yen Chen-hui, Taipei Times
Foxton said in a statement that “the development of the Model C progresses well on schedule.”
It plans to deliver the model to its customers as previously arranged, it said.
However, the launch of the Luxgen N7 should follow Luxgen’s plan, the statement said.
The Model C was slated to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of this year, Hon Hai said earlier this year.
Hon Hai targeted 10 percent of the nation’s new car market at about 200,000 units per year, company chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors in May.
Liu doubles as chairman of Foxtron.
Foxtron in July received approval from the Taiwan Stock Exchange to trade its stocks on the Taiwan Innovation Board, a secondary market that gives local start-up companies easier access to capital for business development. The approval paves the way for the debut of Foxtron shares later this month.
Foxtron reported a loss of NT$540.86 million in the first quarter of this year, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company saw its losses widen to NT$1.58 billion last year compared with losses of NT$983.1 million in 2021, the report showed.
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