Is there another opportunity for Foxconn to build a car for Apple when it launches a new car?

Foxconn, the contract manufacturer of Apple's iPhone, stepped into the field of car building, unveiling a number of electric models at Foxconn's daily electric car launch event on Oct. 18.

It is understood that the launch of Foxconn pure electric vehicle brand Honghua Advanced (Foxtron) belongs to the joint venture established by Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Group and Na Zhijie parent company Yulong Automobile Group, and the launch models include pure electric car Model C, pure electric SUV Model E and electric bus Model T.

Liu Yangwei, chairman of Foxconn, commented: "We are no longer a newcomer to the industry, we have gradually established an electric vehicle supply chain and demonstrated our electric vehicle hardware." In addition, Foxconn expects its electric buses to be delivered to a local transportation supplier next year.

Yan Chen Lilian, chairman of Yulong Group, also pointed out at the event on the 18th that Yulong Group will become the first customer of Honghua's advanced product platform.

Another chance to build a car for Apple?

As the largest iPhone assembler, Foxconn may increase its chances of becoming a potential partner in Apple's automotive project after the launch.

In recent years, since the exposure of Apple's car-building project, automakers have been striving to become partners of Apple cars, although it has recently been reported that Apple has decided to develop electric cars independently instead of looking for partners to contract manufacturing. but there are still persistent reports that Foxconn will contract for Apple.

As one of the competitors, Foxconn's advantage lies in its strong relationship with Apple. It is reported that as Apple increases the range of products, the partnership between the two sides has been expanding for several years, and Apple's sales now account for about 50% of Foxconn's annual sales.

In addition, in an aggressive push into the auto industry, Foxconn agreed at the end of September to buy an Ohio car plant from electric car start-up Lordstown Motors (RIDE.US) for $280 million.

However, due to repeated setbacks, including the departure of the head of the car project to join F.US, Apple is still a long way from going public.

In addition, Foxconn has not started selling any products since the debut of the electric vehicle platform last year. The company will still have to wait until April next year to start mass production of Endurance electric pickups for its customer Lordstown in Ohio, according to people familiar with the matter.

By contrast, carmakers such as TSLA.US, Volkswagen and Hyundai are already churning out electric vehicles and investing billions of dollars in product development and capacity.

Nonetheless, Foxconn has made some progress in building cars. For example, Foxconn has reached manufacturing agreements with electric car start-up Fisker (FSR.US), a partnership with Thai state-owned company PTT Pcl, and agreements with Stellantis NV (STLA.US) and Geely Holdings.