- Foxconn switches to EVs
- High vegetable prices drive inflation fears
- PwC study: China’s EV boom
- Xi opens 6th plenum
- Data Security Law burdens foreign companies
- Chinese woman completes space walk
- Profile: Harald Kumpfert – Sustainable in China’s Ruhr area
Since the production of iPhone components is less and less profitable, Foxconn plans to change its business. Instead of iPhones, the Taiwanese electronics company wants to produce EVs in the future. Frank Sieren took a closer look at the first three models and their underlying strategy. And just like with iPhones, Foxconn doesn’t want to sell its cars under its own brand. Will the company achieve similar success, just like it did with the manufacturing of iPhones? In any case, Foxconn president Young Liu is not lacking in self-confidence: When it comes to expertise in software and computer chips, the company is already far ahead of many traditional carmakers, according to Liu. Our author also finds several reasons why Foxconn’s ambitious EV plans could work out.
The mood in Chinese society, on the other hand, is much worse. Power shortages, a strict Covid policy – and now prices for vegetables are climbing as well. Heavy rainfall and flooding in one of the country’s largest vegetable-growing regions are driving up prices. Rumors are already circulating that food could become scarce in some places. The fear of inflation is spreading rapidly. Ning Wang has taken a closer look at the situation and reveals just how much pressure is mounting on the government in Beijing. It quickly becomes evident that, as the world’s biggest exporter, rising prices are also having an impact on foreign companies in China. Could international supply chains even be affected by the threat of inflation in China?
I hope you find today’s issue insightful!
Michael Radunski
Feature
EVs instead of iPhones
Foxconn is one of the world’s largest contract manufacturers and suppliers of consumer electronics. The Taiwanese company, known in Asia as Hong Hai, manufactures an average of six out of ten smartphones for Apple. But since profit margins in its core business have been steadily declining, the group is looking to broaden its reach and expand into the electric vehicle segment. In October, Foxconn already unveiled its first three EV models at a presentation in Taipei: a sedan, an SUV, and a bus.
The sedan is the result of a collaboration with Italian design firm Pininfarina from Cambiano. The Model E, as the car has been christened in reference to Tesla’s vehicles, is expected to have a range of 750 kilometers. More aimed at the mass market is the so-called Model C, an SUV with a range of 700 kilometers, which should be available for around €30,000 after the start of production in 2023. The e-bus, called Model T, could hit the roads as early as 2022. According to Taiwan’s Vice-Governor Shen Jong-chin, route service in Kaohsiung in the south of the country is planned as early as next year. According to Foxconn, the range of the city bus, which is also expected to meet all regulations of the US Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is 400 kilometers. However, Foxconn does not want to sell the vehicles under its own name. Instead, they will be produced under the name Foxtron for other brands in the automotive industry.
According to the company’s information, cooperation partnerships are already signed with the US EV manufacturer Fisker and Taiwan’s Yulon Motor Group. There is also speculation about a collaboration with Apple. According to rumors, the tech giant from Silicon Valley has been looking for a suitable contract manufacturer for its first Apple car for quite some time (China.Table reported).
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