Yeah, read that some time ago. Thing is....contract manufacturing simple electronics and buying into a failing EV company doesn't make you a major auto manufacturer. Not that they can be underestimated-I expect that in 10 to 20 years they will make significant progress-if they have that time before going under. Tesla demonstrated that it can be done-but they had a decade plus without significant competition to learn what it takes to build autos. And they learned painfully just how difficult it really is to do so cost competitively. Foxconn doesn't have the luxury of time.
Keep in mind that companies such a Magna and Valmet are contract vehicle manufacturers. Magna-Steyr, in particular has built cars recently for BMW, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar and Toyota. Several Chinese companies such as SAIC and JAC have done contract manufacturing for a long time.
Foxconn is already in the contract manufacturing business, in a 50:50 JV with Geely established a year ago.
Just as your phone or computer might be manufactured by a different company to the one that developed it, in the future the same could be true for cars.
www.motorauthority.com
O course they also have Lordstown, and they are adept at making rapid startups f new factories.
On this forum we tend to drastically understate some very capable manufacturers, probably due to lack of familiarity with the names.
Major battery suppliers, such as CATL and BYD are already well ahead of the traditional names like LG and Panasonic. Just as Tesla buys from any battery supplier that can meet Tesla standards, companies like Foxconn have all the structural capability to manufacture quite excellent BEVs. I end with the battery supply topic because Foxconn is moving quickly:
www.electrive.com
www.electrive.com
Underestimating Foxconn is a hazardous undertaking. This is a superficial quick read on them.
Foxconn is a multinational contract manufacturer founded by Terry Gou. The company is a major manufacturer of Apple. Know its success story.
startuptalky.com
In short, Apple is very important to Foxconn, their single largest customer, but is only the most publicized part.
FWIW, if there ever were to be an Apple car it probably would be made by Foxconn.
Oh, I almost forgot: the Volvo/Geely order of GigaPress will probably be first deployed to advance their CMA architecture, now used for Volvo XC40 and C40, among others, when that platform evolved to be the first pure BEV platform. They'll change the name form CMA then too. That Geely:Foxconn JV will be primarily using GigaPress and highly integrated manufacturing too. In short Foxconn:Geely are learning Tesla lessons as quickly as possible.
Just to add a tiny hint: Li Shufu, Geely owner, also owns almost 10% pf Mercedes Benz, just a little less than does BAIC:
Here you can find the Daimler shareholder structure by ownership and region in percent of capital stock.
group.mercedes-benz.com
The more closely we look to the details the more we understand how quickly the BEV world is changing.