An American start-up automaker called Faraday Future announced this week it will produce its forthcoming FF 81 electric crossover at the former GM Gunsan plant in South Korea.
GM announced in 2018 that it had sold its Gunsan plant to a Korean supplier called Myoung Shin Co., Ltd. for 113 billion won. Now Myoung Shin Co. Ltd. has confirmed it’s entered a partnership with Faraday Future to produce its FF 81 electric automaker on behalf of the American start-up at the former GM plant, with production set to commence in 2024. Faraday Future says the Gunsan plant “offers scale, flexibility, and attractive port access,” and will enable Myoung Shin to “maintain sufficient manufacturing capabilities and capacity to supply FF 81 vehicles in accordance with FF’s forecasts.”
Faraday Future is a start-up EV automaker that plans to leverage its asset-light business model to compete with more established rivals like Tesla and Rivian. This business model entails leasing facilities and entering manufacturing collaborations like the one it announced with Myoung Shin this week, enabling the company to produce EVs without making major long-term commitments or large-scale investments.
“Our vision as an EV contract manufacturer is to seek creation, innovation, reliability, accountability, and corporate citizenship, all of which we will provide to Faraday Future as we manufacture their FF 81 vehicle,” Taekyu Lee, President of Myoung Shin, said in a prepared statement.
Faraday Future unveiled its first model, the FF 91 crossover, back in 2017, with the California-based company initially targeting a late 2018 launch date. Various engineering and production setbacks have delayed its arrival by nearly four years, however, with the company now targeting a Q3 2022 release. The FF 91 Futurist Alliance launch model, which produces nearly 1,000 horsepower and can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in as little as 2.6 seconds, is priced from roughly $180,000 USD.
The former GM Gunsan plant is located in Korea’s North Jeolla province and once produced the Chevy Cruze compact sedan and Chevy Orlando people mover. The plant was shuttered in 2018 due to underutilization, with the facility running at 20 percent capacity for the three years between 2015 and 2018, making its continued use unsustainable. GM continues to operate two separate plants in Korea, which are located in Changwon and Incheon.
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Comments
Interesting looking logo
I am not sure I want to say this is ugly but it most definitely is not a Good looking vehicle.
Best of luck to them.
Another $50k+ car that we can look at pictures of. No company has the ability to make an affordable EV for the masses.
You would think that removing an engine, transmission and fuel tank would result in affordable cars. Only safe, economical batteries and a reliable charging network will open the door for the average car owner to make a transition to EVs, not more $100K pipedreams.
@EV Spectator
I think this will be like over 200K if I am not mistaken.
Unfortunately the only ones making affordable BEV’s is Chinese Companies. This is why I am afraid they will flood the Market soon just like Toyota and Honda did 50 years ago and start grabbing big chunks of the US and European Market. They will sell Brand New BEV’s that will come with long Warranties for cheaper prices than our used vehicles here. We shall see but I hope that will not be the case. I do not think Chrysler, Ford, and GM can afford to lose any more Market share here.
Who fault is that? They can sell what they want if gm chooses to charge crazy prices then they can go out of business nobody owes them or any other company anything.
Technically speaking, gm has 3 assembly facilities in Korea, not 2. The complex in Incheon has 2 lines known as Bupyeong 1 and Bupyeong 2. The Changwon plant has 1 line.
I’m a fan of EVs, but I still haven’t figured out what FF brings to the table that’s unique and will help it succeed. These things are likely to be priced around the six figured mark, which is a small market already. Up there we’ve got Lucid with 500+ mile range and luxury, the hyped company that starts with T, and now credible entries from Mercedes and soon Cadillac. Why would I buy a FF with an unknown track record when all these other entries exist?