Foxconn EV unit wants to make new battery car in India or Thailand: report

‘You build where the potential market is…In India or Southeast Asia, you have a huge volume opportunity right now,’ Cheng was quoted as saying by Reuters.

• Shubham
• 02 August, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

TAIWANESE electronics major Foxconn’s venture planning to build a standardised electric vehicle platform is eyeing India or Thailand for producing small battery-powered car under development, its chief executive said.

Mobility in Harmony (MIH), Foxconn’s electric vehicle (EV) platform unit, would be willing to work with its parent or another firm to build the three-seat vehicle at a price below $20,000 and tailor-made for a corporate delivery fleet, its CEO Jack Cheng told Reuters in an interview.

He added that MIH is holding talks with convenience stores, car rental and courier firms ahead of unveiling its first prototype EV at the largest auto trade show in Japan in October.

While stopping short of revealing the names that MIH is in talks with, Cheng said the new vehicle would be priced between $10,000 and $20,000. He added that India and Thailand are likely contenders for the vehicle’s production sites. Cheng also said that he expected the South Asian nation to play a crucial role to MIH’s long-term growth.

“You build where the potential market is…In India or Southeast Asia, you have a huge volume opportunity right now,” Cheng was quoted as saying by the publication.

He called India a potential “emerging power for the next generation” in the EV sector.

MIH has plans to flag off production of the three-seater EV about 18 to 24 months following the unveiling of the prototype in Japan, Cheng said.

The CEO, who was a co-founder of Chinese EV manufacturer NIO and led Fiat’s joint venture with China before arriving at Foxconn, said the success of US automaker Tesla with its large plant in Shanghai in China proved how fast an EV manufacturer could scale up.

“I’m building another Shanghai, probably in India,” Cheng was quoted as saying.

“If this is a Foxconn plant, fantastic, it’s the mother company, we put it into the Foxconn plant. If this is a local India plant and it’s even more competitive, give it to the India plant.”