Foxconn wants to be for Tesla what it is to Apple

Foxconn, the Taiwan-based manufacturing giant, says that it wants to build electric vehicles for Tesla like it builds iPhones for Apple.

At its annual Tech Day today, Foxconn unveiled a new electric pickup truck and a new electric crossover.

The manufacturing company has now unveiled a full lineup of electric vehicles that it can produce at several factories that it acquired in Asia and in the US over the last few years.

Despite having unveiled several electric vehicles at this point, Foxconn apparently still doesn’t plan to be a consumer-facing brand, and plans to work with other automakers to sell its vehicles.

Like it does with some of Apple’s products, Foxconn wants to take over the entire manufacturing process of electric vehicles – or license the electric vehicles – it has already unveiled.

During the event today, Chairman Liu Young-way said that Foxconn is aiming to manufacture 5% of the EV market by 2025, and that the company even hopes to manufacture vehicles for Tesla:

Based on our past records for the PC and cellphone markets … we’re at about 40-45% of the overall market share. So, ambitions-wise, hopefully we are able to achieve the same kind of achievement like in the ICT (information and communications technology) industry, but we will start small, which is about 5% in 2025. I hope one day we can do Tesla cars for Tesla.

The company believes that its supply chain resilience would be really attractive to automakers.

Liu Young-way commented:

Supply chain resilience has always been Foxconn’s DNA. Our global footprint in 24 countries gives us a huge advantage to meet EV industry demands.

Foxconn has done relatively well for Apple amid a global supply chain crisis that has been especially affecting the electronics industry.

Would Tesla work with Foxconn?

What Foxconn is offering is not exactly new in the electric vehicle industry, or the auto industry, period.

For example, Magna has been known for building and assembling vehicles for other automakers and it has done EVs for Jaguar, and it is about to build vehicles for Fisker and Lordstown Motors.

But would Tesla want Foxconn to build its vehicles?

My guess would be no. CEO Elon Musk has made it clear that he aims for Tesla’s main competitive advantage in the future to be manufacturing. Therefore, if that’s the goal, it would make no sense for the company to contract manufacturing to another company.

I would be shocked if we ever see Tesla work with Foxconn, but I do like their ambitions to manufacture 5% of the EV market as soon as 2025.

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