Taiwanese electronic manufacturing giant, Foxconn are partnering up with Zhejian Geely Holding group to create a 3rd party EV contract manufacturing service. Think of it as Asia’s Magna Steyr (who made Sony’s recent EV concept), but with a focus on EVs. This news comes hot on the heels of Apple Car rumours, which indicate that Hyundai Motor Group are in talks with the tech giant to make their first vehicle.
Foxconn are one of Apple’s largest contract manufacturers. They’ve got loads of facilities around the world including some in Malaysia. We could stand to benefit from this deal. Some of their biggest clients, excluding Apple, include: Acer, Amazon, BlackBerry, Cisco, Dell, Google, HP, Huawei, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Sega, Sony, Toshiba, and Xiaomi. This literally one of the most important electronics manufacturing companies in the world, and they have a clear aim to push further into the growing EV game.
Geely is the largest privately-held (possibly largest all-round, too) Chinese auto companies and already have ownership of Volvo Cars and nearly a 10% stake in Daimler. Add to this their many other companies, and you have yourself one of the most important automotive groups in the world. The company has a combined production capacity of nearly 2 million cars annually. However, in 2020 only utilised 66% of this capacity, so expansion beyond their currently-owned brands is probably desirable.
Terry Gou, Founder of Foxconn and Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group both attended the digital signing ceremony – signally just how significant this deal is to both companies.
Here’s the joint press release from both Foxconn and Geely.
PRESS RELEASE
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) and Foxconn Technology Group (Foxconn) signed a strategic cooperative agreement and will establish a joint venture company to provide OEM and customized consulting services relating to whole vehicles, parts, intelligent drive systems, automotive ecosystem platforms to global automotive enterprises and ridesharing companies. The new joint venture will revolutionize the automotive industry model by introducing the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) division of labor to help automakers accelerate their transition to new innovative and efficient manufacturing processes and business models based on CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electrified) technologies.
Terry Gou, Founder of Foxconn, and Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, attended and witnessed the digitally held signing ceremony. Young-way Liu, Chairman of Foxconn and An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group, signed the agreement on behalf of the two companies.
Each party to hold equal 50% stake in new joint venture. The board of directors will consist of five members with Foxconn appointing three including the Chairman and Geely Holding appointing two.
“This alliance between Geely Holding and Foxconn represents a milestone in cooperation between the automotive industry and ICT industry. With Foxconn’s globally leading R&D technologies, intelligent manufacturing, and hardware-software integration capabilities, the two parties form a highly complementary partnership which allows us to better serve and meet the diverse needs of different customers, and offer the most advanced, fastest, cost-effective full value-chain vehicle production service platform,” said Young-way Liu, Chairman of Foxconn Technology Group.
“The partnership with Geely Holding does not just align with our company’s vision of “3+3=∞” which symbolizes the infinite possibilities created by Foxconn’s industrial advancement and emerging technologies, it will also result in tremendous change in the development of the automotive industry. I look forward to the great potential that this partnership will bring about.”
“This cooperation is of great significance to both parties. The current global automotive industry is undergoing profound changes. We must actively embrace change, build alliances, and synergize resources to create greater value for our users. Foxconn’s professional capabilities, rich experience, and global layout in the ICT industry offer important insight for the transformation and evolution of the automotive industry. Geely Holding Group will give full play to its advantages in the automotive fields of design, engineering, R&D, intelligent manufacturing, supply chain management, and quality control while joining forces with Foxconn to develop together and explore new pathways for transforming, improving, and achieving high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.” said Daniel Donghui Li, CEO of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
