Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn could become a big player in electric vehicles by using a former GM manufacturing plant. Foxconn already produces cars under the name Foxtron, a joint venture with Taiwan’s Yulon Motor Co. Now, it’s injecting another $26 million into its Lordstown, Ohio plant to get it ready to build USDM EVs domestically.
GM shut down the Lordstown assembly plant that used to assemble the Chevy Cruze in 2019. It was briefly owned by the now-bankrupt Lordstown Motors before being acquired by Foxconn in 2022. Now, Foxconn says it has a U.S. client that will start selling its Model C electric crossover this year, but the company declined to name the partner. Model C is the internal name Foxconn uses for the crossover currently marketed in Taiwan as the Luxgen n7. It’s a single-motor, RWD EV for now, but a dual-motor, AWD version has been shown as a prototype.
“Taiwan missed the opportunity of becoming an automaking country in terms of internal combustion,” James C.F. Huang, chairman of the government-backed Taiwan External Trade Development Council, told Automotive News. “But in terms of EVs, I think we have a chance because we have Foxconn. They are producing very good EVs locally, and they are looking for partnerships.”
It’s unlikely that we’ll see Foxconn-branded cars in the U.S. or anywhere else. The company prefers to do contract work and joint ventures rather than market its own products to the public. “Foxconn has never done its own branding,” Taiwan-based EV consultant Jack Cheng said. “And they won’t inject more money until they see the market orders. That’s why they keep pushing for Mitsubishi, Nissan, whoever has a brand, to give them contract manufacturing orders. Then they will make the investment.”
If Foxconn’s Model C does come to the U.S. market, its closest GM rival will be the Chevy Equinox EV. The Model C is actually seven inches shorter than the Equinox EV, meaning it will likely fall between the Equinox EV and the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV in terms of size.
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That plant has such a troubled history, often building sub-par vehicles and now it’s going to be building Chinese EVs? Great, just great.
You would be correct only because it built the Vega, but before that it built Camaros and Firebirds. The Cruze was also a solid vehicle.
The Cruze was NOT a solid vehicle. The early ones caught fire and the 2017 I sat in at an Auto Show had half the dash falling apart.
My Cobalt has 310,000 miles on it. Still my daily driver.
Foxconn was supposed to come to WI, and that never panned out. This too, might be a big bust.
Yep dirty little secret they avoid talking about with what 10b and 10k jobs supposedly that amounted to what dirt turnover and some 2k white collar jobs? Yet they go for round 2 of billions and billions…oh wait trillions upon trillions of investments. I will believe it when I see it. And mid terms itself will change all that.
Taiwan is the real China. The free republic of China. The Peoples Republic of China (i.e. the mainland territory Mao stole from the real Chinese people of Taiwan) is the farce country that is a part of Taiwan.
Taiwan is not China. They make solid stuff. I had to shell out $40 for solid Sylvania LED fog lights made in Taiwan for my Rav4 because the mainland made ones kept crapping out after a year. Taiwan has the potential to be a tech powerhouse like Japan and Korea if not for the pest just west of them.
It looks like a hearse, though a short one.
Ya know Acura has their EV that GM Caddy div I think makes with Lyriq and such and with a black roof I saw in the flesh weeks ago at a restaurant parking lot look just like a hearse! So yes on the Acura too.
I think they want to build here so they can avoid the tariffs that are going to be put on importing vehicles to the United States . I hope it’s works out because the region needs it.
Another GM devastation Community… Earn $ and Burn !
We’ll see how this goes. Once the EV subsidies and CAFE mandates are gone, all EV’s may be in for a tough road.
From Wikipedia. “ The Foxtron MIH open platform is a modular skateboard chassis which carries the traction battery under the cabin floor, within the wheelbase of the vehicle. Front-, rear-, or all-wheel drive are possible using one or two traction motor units. Steering, braking, and vehicle speed/acceleration are controlled “by-wire”, facilitating the development of autonomous driving software. It is designed to accommodate vehicle segments from B through E using a variety of lengths, widths, and heights.[30]
Foxtron offers a software development kit for the platform named “EVKit”. The onboard software is designed to be upgradable and interface with vehicle subsystem controllers, including the Vehicle Control Unit (powertrain), Electronic Stability Control (braking), Electric Power Steering, and Body Component Module (doors); it receives inputs from various modules that report vehicle states and other sensors which may include cameras, radar, and/or LiDAR.[30]
Vehicles developed by Foxtron using the MIH platform are intended to serve as reference designs for automotive OEMs to rebrand and market under their own marque; for example, the Foxtron Model C is sold as the Luxgen n7.”
Curious: Your Wiki entry refers to “Foxtron”, while the article is about “Foxconn”. Same thing? Why the difference?
That brand will get hit by tariffs until Trump drops them.
The main reason foreign company’s invested in building anything in the united states was to avoid tariffs ! Yes it creates jobs but billions of dollars goes back to the foreign headquarters !
“The Model C is actually seven inches shorter than the Equinox EV, meaning it will likely fall between the Equinox EV and the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV in terms of size.”
That means the Model C is the same length as the Equinox ICE.
Just what we need is another plant building EV’s that few are interested in buying.