Foxconn's dream of car-making ecology, with a new model to fight against Tesla!

After Tesla's success, various auto companies will always benchmark Tesla when they enter the new energy vehicle market.

But in fact, Tesla's success is not only the car, Tesla was originally known for PayPal and the aerospace industry, and later entered the electric car. By integrating the vehicle's control system and using the new software platform as a weapon, the company began to break into the market, adding to the image of an autonomous driving leader. Now, despite much controversy, he has created a picture that is difficult for existing automakers to surpass. Since then, various new forces have emerged and flourished, but no company has achieved significant results, or surpassed Tesla's.

So the way to beat Tesla is not to imitate it, but to develop a whole new model. Foxconn in Taiwan Province is trying to enter the auto industry in a different way than Tesla.

Tesla's market capitalization was $52.5 billion in April 2017 and crossed the $1 trillion mark in October 2021. At the same time, sales in 2017 increased from 103,000 units to 936,000 units in 2021. That's double the number of 450,000 pure electric vehicles sold by the Volkswagen Group.

Therefore, in the face of a company like Tesla, if it is surpassed, it is the direction of all car manufacturers and other new car-making companies.

And what is foxconn's way of finding it?

MIH is an open platform for hardware and software for electric vehicles

Foxconn Technology Group, known as Hon Hai Seiko, began to attract attention in the automotive industry when it announced the development of a pure electric vehicle platform in October 2020. Foxconn will develop the first pure electric vehicle using the platform by 2022 and make it available to other companies in the future. Foxconn aims to gain a 10% global market share in pure electric vehicle sales powered by the company's platform by 2027.

Foxconn Technology Group has launched MIH, an open platform for software and hardware for electric vehicles, and introduced technologies including the manufacture of key components for electric vehicles. The MIH open platform is characterized by a fairly wide range of changes that can be made by each company, so it can be useful to many companies.

In simple terms, Foxconn aims to position MIH as the Android system for the electric vehicle industry and work with industry partners to create a software-defined open ecosystem for the electric vehicle manufacturing industry.

In addition to launching MIH, Foxconn also showcased the technology and development of key components for electric vehicles. It also announced plans to launch commercial solid-state batteries by 2024. It also highlights the development of a unique high-strength die-casting material that is both robust and corrosion resistant after years of research, making the lightweight and modular open chassis power platform a competitive option in the market.

In addition to Foxconn, in a similar model there is Bosch, Bosch has developed an electric vehicle platform, it seems that the era of platform outsourcing with the car structure as the core is coming. Of course, the first to sell the platform was Volkswagen's MEB platform, which Ford is currently using.

Another industrial ecosystem that Foxconn has always dreamed of

Based on the open platform strategy, Foxconn established a joint venture with China Geely Automobile in January 2021 to provide OEM and customized consulting services to global automakers. It aims to provide OEM and customized consulting services for global automotive enterprises and shared mobility companies, such as complete vehicles, components, intelligent drive systems, and automotive ecological platforms. The joint venture will revolutionize the electrification technology model of the automotive industry by introducing an information and communication technology (ICT) division of labor, helping automakers accelerate the transition to new, innovative and efficient manufacturing processes and business models based on CASE.

Foxconn said that the cooperation with Geely Holdings marks a milestone in the cooperation between the automotive industry and the information and communication industry. With Foxconn's R&D technology, intelligent manufacturing and software and hardware integration capabilities, the two sides will form a highly complementary partnership that can better support and meet the diverse needs of different customers, providing the most advanced and fastest cost.

And in February of the same year, Foxconn agreed to work with American electric vehicle startup Fisker to develop a new battery electric vehicle. Teams at Fisker and Foxconn will build several workflows focused on design, technology, engineering and manufacturing. Due to the rapid pace of development, the two companies reached an agreement in February this year to produce 250,000 vehicles per year. The collaboration between the two companies, from R&D to production, takes just 24 months to produce the next Fisker vehicle, meaning it can cut the traditional time it takes to bring a new car to market in half.

It was also at this time that Foxconn negotiated with Vietnamese electric vehicle startup VinFast to develop electric vehicle batteries and other components. Foxconn is said to have offered to buy an electric car production line from VinFast.

At the same time, it is planned to produce byton's M-Byte, but it is currently on hold due to bytem's problems.

In addition, Foxconn began local production of battery electric vehicles in the United States or Mexico. It's a strategy to reduce the dependence on the production of the smartphone business, aiming to expand the business area into the production of electric vehicles.

With the acceleration of the U.S. electric vehicle market after the inauguration of the Biden administration, it was decided to build a production plant for the North American market. Foxconn announced that it has agreed to work with Fisker to produce more than 250,000 electric vehicles per year in late February 2021 and is currently discussing a partnership with a new local company. Discussions with Apple about electric vehicle production are also ongoing.

In July, Foxconn decided to establish a joint venture with Nidec in 2022 to produce electric motors. Nidec announced that it will develop a platform dedicated to electric vehicles by 2025. Nidec aims to sell 2.8 million motors by 2025 and 10 million by 2030. The portfolio includes applications for electric scooters, e-motorcycles and bicycles.

In August, it formed a joint venture, Mobile Drive, with subsidiaries Foxconn FIH Mobile and Stellantis. Mobile Drive is a 50/50 joint venture designed to accelerate development timelines to deliver an in-vehicle user experience powered by advanced consumer electronics, HMI interfaces, and services.

All developments of Mobile Drive will be co-owned by Stellantis and Foxconn. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Mobile Drive is a supplier to automakers that provide software solutions and related hardware to Stellantis and other automakers.

Mobile Drive will focus on developing platforms for infotainment, telematics, and cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI)-based applications, 5G communications, wireless (OTA) services, e-commerce opportunities, and software for developing integrated environments. The next generation of smart cockpits.

In addition, the two companies decided to introduce advanced semiconductor technology to Stellantis' next-generation platform, STLA Brain. The semiconductor aims to be installed in vehicles of every brand in the Stellantis Group by 2024.

In September, it invested $1 billion to $2 billion in investments with Thai energy company PTT to form a joint venture in Thailand to produce electric vehicles. Production is expected to begin within two to three years of construction completion. It is said that the initial production was 50,000 units per year, and then the maximum was 150,000 units per year.

In October, Foxconn acquired the auto plant of Roadstone Motors, an electric vehicle startup based in Roadstone, Ohio. It is said that this factory can also produce fisker products.

The Foxtron brand prototype is unveiled

That same month, it launched three prototypes of battery electric vehicles under the "Foxtron" brand. Foxtron is a joint venture between Foxconn and Taiwanese automaker Yulon Motors. Prototypes, including SUVs, cars and buses, are the main roadmap for battery electric vehicles. The company said it plans to launch the product in Taiwan and other regional markets between 2022 and 2023.

The three models will be produced by Yulon Motors and will initially be sold as Luxgen, one of Yulon Motors' sub-brands. The Model E sedan, developed in collaboration with Italy's Finanpirina, is expected to be supplied by other automakers. This could make the Model E a Fisker product, or a partnership between Foxconn and Stellantis, offered under the Dodge, Alfa Romeo or Maserati brands. Apple could also be the ideal person to partner with Foxconn's Model E.

In addition, the Foxtron Model T, a single-decker electric bus designed specifically for urban routes, has confirmed that it will start operating commercial routes in several cities across Taiwan in partnership with local public transport authorities as early as 2022. The bus will most likely retain the Foxtron brand.

Foxconn signed a contract with Taiwan's Zhaoneng Group for battery raw materials worth about $36 million. In addition, the goal of integrating all-solid-state batteries into battery EV platforms is set for 2024. This investment is expected to help Foxconn achieve its goal of providing parts or services for 10% of the world's pure electric vehicles between 2025 and 2027.

In December 2021, the Model E, a pure electric sedan jointly developed with Pininfarina, was unveiled at the Hong Kong International Automobile Expo. It's a battery-electric sedan in a Foxtron-branded C-Class SUV, sedan, and electric bus, launched ahead of the 2022 target.

In January 2022, partners such as the Indonesian Ministry of Investment and electric scooter manufacturer Gogoro announced that they will jointly develop a sustainable new energy ecosystem focusing on batteries and electric vehicles and related industries in Indonesia. In June 2021, the two companies also agreed to enter into a technology and production partnership with a contract manufacturer related to the production of electric scooters and go-Go in-furnace battery replacement systems.

As a result, Foxconn is seeking a wide range of investments with Gogoro, IBC and Indika to develop Indonesia's new energy sources, from manufacturing batteries, including batteries, battery modules and battery packs, to developing four- and two-wheeled electric vehicle ecosystems. This is mutually beneficial cooperation in building ecosystems. In addition, we plan to cooperate on the development of electric vehicle supporting industries such as energy storage systems (ESS), battery exchange stations, and battery recycling.

Foxconn's strategy is to replace all processes from development to production for companies looking to produce electric vehicles based on MIH, an open platform for the software and hardware they develop. This is a step further than Magna's consignment production. The current feature is that it does not adhere to its own brand. By doing so, they are building a new business model to become the platform provider of the future for the next generation of cars.

It's a new type of horizontal division of labor, with the characteristics of the IT industry and the automotive industry mixed together, like the alliance between Sony and Honda.