Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday added two new electric vehicle (EV) prototypes to its fleet, paving the way for the commercial production of the Model V and Model B in the US and Thailand in 2024.
The prototypes unveiled yesterday are a pickup truck and a sports hatchback vehicle.
Their addition shows Hon Hai’s determination to build a foothold in the global EV market as part of its efforts to diversify its product portfolio and reduce its reliance on the smartphone assembly business. The iPhone maker has developed five EV models over the past two years.
Photo: Fang Wei-jie, Taipei Times
Hon Hai operates a factory in Ohio with an installed capacity of 500,000 to 600,000 vehicles a year.
In Thailand, the company is collaborating with local partners to build facilities that could produce 150,000 to 200,000 battery-powered vehicles a year, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told a media briefing following the EV launch in Taipei.
In contrast to its PC and smartphone manufacturing hubs in China, Hon Hai is expanding its EV footprint globally and seeking to deploy new manufacturing capacity in India and Indonesia with local partners through its “build, operate and localize” strategy, Liu said.
At home, Hon Hai is to work with Yulon Motors Co (裕隆汽車) to start volume production of the Model C next year, using Yulon’s factory in Miaoli County’s Sanyi Township (三義), Liu said.
Hon Hai yesterday released the production version of the Model C, after the prototype was unveiled one year ago.
The company’s goal of capturing a 5 percent share of the global EV market by 2025 still holds, Liu said.
Based on that goal, Hon Hai could generate NT$1 trillion (US$31.3 billion) in revenue from its EV business by 2025, excluding software products, Liu said.
In the longer term, Hon Hai aims to seize 43 percent of the global EV market, similar to its shares of the global PC and mobile phone markets, Liu said.
Asked about shipments from Hon Hai and Tesla Inc, Liu said Hon Hai hopes to one day produce EVs for the US-based automaker.
Hon Hai adopts a different business model from Tesla, he said.
Tesla is an electric vehicle brand, while Hon Hai provides electric vehicle design and manufacturing services on a contractual basis, he said.
Hon Hai would not compete with customers in selling its own-brand EVs, he said, adding that the company is a platform provider.
The company more than two years ago introduced the MIH open platform, which now has 2,749 members, he said.
Hon Hai aims to source more than half of its EV components from platform members, he added.
The company would only focus on making crucial components, such as silicon carbide (SiC) chips to boost the EV supply chain’s resilience, Liu said.
Hon Hai expects to complete customers’ certification for its SiC chips next year before shipping, he added.
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