Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday saw its first pure electric sports utility vehicle (SUV), model C, commercialized and gained early popularity as reflected on big preorders received by its client Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車).
Luxgen notched 5,000 preorders for its new electric model, named Luxgen n7 designed based on the model C, before its web site went down under the weight of demand.
The model C was developed by Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) on the MIH open platform backed by iPhone assembler Hon Hai.
Foxtron, formed in November 2020, is a joint venture between Yulon Motors Co (裕隆) and Hon Hai, focusing on developing MIH-based EVs.
Luxgen, Yulon’s own-brand car vendor, plans to build its new EV using Foxtron prototypes, including the Model C, Hon Hai’s first all-electric SUV, and the Model E sedan, Yulon said.
Priority on the Luxgen n7 waiting list, along with other benefits, is being offered to those who pay NT$1,000 for the privilege, the company said on its Web site.
Luxgen said the EV is to be the world’s first electric SUV carrying an affordable price tag at about NT$1 million (US$32,754) per unit. Luxgen expects to start delivering the vehicle in the second half of next year.
The virtual preorder event ends on Oct. 15, the company said.
Separately, nationwide new vehicle sales expanded 3.8 percent annually, but fell 9 percent monthly, to 34,416 units last month, beating market expectations as sales usually dip below that figure during Ghost Month.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Lexus and Toyota models in Taiwan, had estimated new vehicle sales would be about 31,000 units last month.
New vehicle sales since Jan. 1 totaled 275,795 units, slumping 5.9 percent from the same period last year.
Some consumers ignored the traditional avoidance of purchasing vehicles during Ghost Month, as a persistent chip crunch and key component shortages have led to longer delivery times, market researcher U-Car said in a statement yesterday.
Annual growth is also attributed to sales promotions and new arrivals of imported vehicles, Hotai said, adding that Tesla’s Model 3 ranked the second best-selling car last month with sales of 1,774 units, surging 303 percent from August last year.
Hotai expects vehicle sales to pick up further to 35,000 units this month as retailers offer promotions, but sales could be set back about 15 percent given chip shortages and uncertainty about global geopolitical tensions.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
H200 CHIPS: A source said that Nvidia has asked the Taiwanese company to begin production of additional chips and work is expected to start in the second quarter Nvidia Corp is scrambling to meet demand for its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Chinese technology companies and has approached contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to ramp up production, sources said. Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for this year, while Nvidia holds just 700,000 units in stock, two of the people said. The exact additional volume Nvidia intends to order from TSMC remains unclear, they said. A third source said that Nvidia has asked TSMC to begin production of the additional chips and work is expected to start in the second
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
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