Foxtron eyes North America as 1st overseas market for Model C

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co., Ltd., an electric vehicle (EV) joint venture between Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and auto conglomerate Yulon Group, is eyeing North America as the first overseas market for its Model C sport utility vehicle (SUV) prototype in mid-2025.

Speaking in a recent interview with CNA, Foxtron CEO Andy Lee (李秉彥) said his company is in talks with car rental firms, car makers, and tech start-ups in North America, regarding the sale of Model C SUVs.

Meanwhile, in Taiwan, Luxgen Motor Co., a subsidiary of Yulon, started delivering its n7 SUVs based on Model C in January, according to Lee.

He said 8,000 vehicles have been ordered by individual consumers and 1,100 by car rental firms and government agencies. All deliveries are expected to be complete by the end of June.

In addition to the SUVs, Lee went on, Foxtron has also set its sights on the Southeast Asian market for Model T prototype electric buses without specifying a time frame.

Foxtron began mass production of Model T e-buses in June 2022 and has supplied them to bus companies in several cities and counties in Taiwan, including Taipei, Taichung, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and the outlying Kinmen islands.

Lee said with demand for e-buses on the rise, Foxtron is building a plant in Kaohsiung's Ciaotou District. Production is scheduled to begin in 2025, with an initial capacity of 500 units a year.

Regarding the European market, Lee said he thinks the Model B crossover prototype model has good potential.

Hon Hai unveiled the Model C SUV and Model T e-bus prototypes on October Tech Day in 2021, and the Model B crossover on October Tech Day in 2022.

Known as Foxconn internationally, Hon Hai has entered the EV market in a bid to transform itself from being a pure contract electronics maker and also be able to its integrate hardware and software capabilities.

Lee said expanding overseas is crucial to Taiwanese car makers because demand in the local market is only about 400,000 units a year, well below the 10 million to 20 million in many major foreign markets.

"2025 will be a critical year for Foxtron as it will mark the year the company expands overseas. It has built a strong foundation in Taiwan, but is now ready to reach out to the global market," Lee said.

In its initial public offering ceremony on the Taiwan Stock Exchange's (TWSE) Taiwan Innovation Board (TIB) on Nov. 20, 2023, Foxtron Chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉), who also chairs Hon Hai, described the company as the first pure electric vehicle stock to be listed in Taiwan.

Liu said Foxtron was currently the only start-up in Taiwan with the ability to design, develop, and manufacture cars, as well as carry out system verification.

In the interview, Lee said "Foxtron has an open EV development platform in place and its clients (at home and abroad) can take advantage of that to directly roll out cars and tailor their products."

According to Lee, Foxtron's Contract Design Manufacturing Services (CDMS) business model will allow partners to build and sell cars back to their home countries.

With many investors wondering when Foxtron -- which was founded in November 2020 -- will turn a profit, Lee said the company is aiming to become profitable in 2025, and has a sales target of more than $10 billion (US$320 million) in 2024.

In 2023, Foxtron posted NT$1.044 billion in consolidated sales, up 252.66 percent from a year earlier due to sales of e-buses.

In the first nine months of 2023, Foxtron incurred an NT$0.91 loss per share, compared with an NT$0.53 loss per share a year earlier.

"Many EV makers in the world took longer than a decade to turn a profit," Lee said, adding that "as a young company, Foxtron is expected to make strong progress ahead of others in the global EV industry."

Lee said Taiwan-made components used in the Model C SUV prototype accounted for more than 50 percent of the total parts.

However, Lee said he considered that ratio not good enough and he will continue to raise the amount of locally made components used. Foxtron will continue to work with partners in the United States, Japan, and Europe to boost its competitive edge, he added.