Leading industrial motor maker Teco Electric and Machinery Co Ltd (東元電機) has set its sights on the electric vehicle (EV) markets in Turkey and Indonesia, as it ramps up efforts to develop EV power system solutions.
The company has also secured orders for EV power system solutions in India, where one of its plants is expected to start production next year, Teco president George Lien (連昭志) told an online investors’ conference on Friday.
Lien did not disclose the size of the EV power system orders Teco secured in India.
Photo: CNA
Teco moved into Taiwan’s electric bus supply chain in 2018 by rolling out 250 kilowatt electric motors. In the second quarter of this year, Teco began shipping power systems for electric buses, taking advantage of a Taipei City Government subsidy program to push “green” transportation in the city.
In February, the company joined the MIH Open Platform for EV development promoted by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
Industrial sources said Teco and Hon Hai have been preparing to compete with foreign rivals in EV power system development, including BorgWarner Inc, Valeo Siemens eAutomotive GmbH and Bosch Group in Europe; Nidec Corp, Yaskawa Electric Corp and Aisin Seiki Co in Japan; and Tesla Inc in the US.
In addition to the booming EV power business, Teco chairwoman Sophia Chiu (邱純枝) said she has high hopes for the company’s smart energy division, in which sales of smart home appliances, particularly air-conditioners used in the business sector, have grown steadily.
Teco’s smart home appliance business is expected to see double-digit percentage growth next year, she said, adding that the company has secured more than NT$10 billion (US$360 million) in orders in the smart energy business.
It is expected to secure an additional NT$2 billion in orders as it has become part of the Internet data center supply chain of Alphabet Inc’s Google, Lien said.
As for Teco’s electric machinery operations, Chiu said it is targeting China, the US and Europe as major markets.
She said orders from China would remain unchanged, or grow slightly, next year due to the country’s moderating economic growth.
Orders from US customers are expected to grow 30 to 40 percent from a year earlier as a result of a newly approved US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Capitol Hill, while order growth is also expected in the European market, she added.
In the first nine months of the year, electric machinery items accounted for 49.9 percent of Teco’s total sales, smart life gadgets made up 26.3 percent and smart energy devices represented 13.1 percent, company data showed.
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