Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said it is to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) in Taiwan for Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp based on a model developed by Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進), its joint venture with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
Earlier in the day, Foxtron Vehicle signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Motors to provide contract design and manufacturing services for an EV model.
The deal is the first EV order for Hon Hai, which has made inroads into the business over the past six years. The iPhone maker, also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), had previously approached Nissan Motor Co, Mitsubishi’s largest shareholder, to further its EV ambitions, but to no avail.
Photo: Bloomberg
The first EV model to be supplied to Mitsubishi Motors is expected to become available in Australia and New Zealand from the second half of next year, Foxtron Vehicle said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Mitsubishi Motors said the two sides would proceed with further discussions for the cooperation toward a definitive agreement.
The collaboration is part of a product plan announced last year highlighting “excellent driving performance as an EV and an advanced infotainment system, making it optimal for the Oceania region,” Mitsubishi Motors said.
Foxtron Vehicle and Mitsubishi Motors gave no financial details.
Foxtron Vehicle lists on its Web site 11 vehicle models, including its Model T bus, Model V pickup truck, Model N van, Model B hatchback and its “luxury flagship” Model E sedan.
Yulon would produce the vehicles for Mitsubishi Motors at the company’s plant in Miaoli County’s Sanyi Township (三義), it said.
“That opens a new opportunity for Taiwanese automakers to tap into overseas markets,” Yulon added.
The company has been assembling vehicles for Nissan Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Motors on a contract basis for a long time. At the Sanyi factory, it has cranked out more than 10,000 EVs, including the n7 model for its subsidiary Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車). The n7 is based on the first EV model designed by Foxtron.
Yulon said it is setting up a new production line at the Sanyi factory to produce new EVs based on the Foxtron-developed Model B for the domestic and overseas markets.
The Sanyi factory has an installed capacity of 5,500 vehicles per month, with potential output to reach 11,000 units per month if it uses double shifts.
Additional reporting by CNA
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS