Alluding to the potential synergies between making petroleum products and making cars, Formosa Plastics Group (
Wang made the announcement during Formosa's 24th annual Sports Day (
"Since we got into petroleum products, we decided to expand into automobiles," Wang said. "This prototype will also help with the further development of our electric car."
PHOTO: LEE HUNG-MING, LIBERTY TIMESN
Formosa has long provided raw materials and parts for the auto industry. Last year the company said it planned to build and market an electric car.
But yesterday was first time the company has openly said it would build a combustion-engine vehicle.
Wang said that the new auto group, Formosa Autos (
The plan entails using the design and engine for Daewoo's "Magnus" series. Daewoo will make the engines and Formosa Plastics will manufacture the rest of the car.
According to local media, Formosa formally moved ahead in the venture yesterday by purchasing a Taichung County-based manufacturing facility from Sanfu Motors (
Wang said the new mid-sized car would be marketed as a family sedan for middle class Taiwanese consumers. Formosa's version of the car will be known as the "FPG1."
He said the new car would sell for "around NT$700,000," and that it would be available nationwide by the end of the year.
Wang was careful to note that the new vehicle would serve as a prototype for the electric car Formosa plans to manufacture in the future. The company plans to set up its manufacturing base for the electric car in China.
But while Wang is revved up about the auto venture, industry analysts question the move.
EnTrust Securities (永昌綜合證券) stock analyst Peter Griffith noted that while many Asian countries want to manufacture their own cars, the worldwide market is getting crowded and Formosa will face "stiff competition."
But Griffith also said that if Formosa uses its new car venture to develop an electric vehicle, the company could win big.
"Whoever becomes the leader of manufacturing environmentally friendly cars for Asia will make money," he said. "Can you imagine the pollution problems a city like Beijing will have if every bicycle rider there trades in for a gas-guzzling car?"
In keeping with his green ethic that has come to typify Wang's Sports Day, the Formosa chairman said that Taiwanese need to stop using non-recyclable tableware and plastic trash bags.
He blasted the local practice of eating on non-recyclable foam products and said people should instead use washable and reusable plates, bowls and chopsticks.
He also recommended the recycling of plastic trash bags. Although the trend in the plastics industry worldwide has been biodegradable products, Formosa currently doesn't produce biodegradable plastic trash bags.
The company, in fact, has a spotted record with regard to environmental issues.
In late December 1998, Formosa Plastics was forced into the environmental spotlight for illegally dumping 4,600 tonnes of mercury-tainted waste in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
The toxic waste was directly blamed for the deaths of two people.
Formosa Plastics was eventually forced to reclaim the materials and ship the load back to Kaohsiung, where it sat for nearly a year. A portion of that shipment was disposed of in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The remainder is reportedly still in Kaohsiung.
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