The chairman of Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn says the electronics giant is considering manufacturing electric vehicles at its mostly empty workplace in Wisconsin, where the company originally planned to make LCD panels. Either that, or Foxconn can make EVs in Mexico. The decision will be taken by July 1, Young Liu chairman told a news conference on Tuesday.
Foxconn, which is best known for manufacturing iPhones, recently paid attention to the booming electric vehicle space as a way to diversify its revenue. Late last year, the conglomerate announced an EV platform on which other businesses could build. This year, Foxconn announced partnerships with China’s largest private carmaker, Geely, and with a number of EV companies. The company has agreed to build an electric vehicle with Fisker Inc., the struggling startup Byton, and may even build one with Faraday Future (as part of the deal with Geely), which is now on the brink of cash after years.
Foxconn also announced an EV partnership with Fiat Chrysler in 2020, though neither company has commented on the project since. (Fiat Chrysler is now called Stellantis.)
The founder of Fisker Inc., Henrik Fisker, had earlier said there was a ‘very good chance’ he would build a vehicle with Foxconn in Wisconsin, although the chairman’s comment on Tuesday was the first time the Taiwanese company had interest in using the facility is confirmed. Liu also said that Foxconn is considering building motor vehicles for several partners, but has rejected rumors that it will work with Apple, which is developing an autonomous electric car.
Foxconn broke ground at the Wisconsin plant in 2018 after receiving about $ 4 billion in tax credits and other incentives from state and local governments. The company promised to invest $ 10 billion, build a 20-million-square-foot facility and create 13,000 jobs in LCD panels. Former President Donald Trump once called the site the “eighth wonder of the world.” The company said it wanted to build the Silicon Valley of the Midwest, calling it ‘Wisconn Valley’.
But it never happened. Foxconn has spent the interim years reducing the scope of its ambitions in Wisconsin, barely achieving the state’s rental targets, and has so far invested only 3 percent of the $ 10 billion total. The largest structure he built measures only 1 million square feet. It was recently reclassified in official documents as a storage facility.
Although Foxconn initially claimed to be manufacturing on-site LCD panels, the company was in fact searching for years for a viable product to manufacture in Wisconsin. It has been said for some time that it will use the space to create an “AI 8K + 5G ecosystem” – although the company has never coherently explained what this means. Foxconn also publicly considered making coffee robots and, in the early days of the pandemic, fans.
“I took over the Wisconsin job, and I have to make it viable, so I have to find a product that fits the place,” Liu said, referring to how he described the project of the previous chairman (and Foxconn founder) Terry inherited. Soon, who left the company to tackle a bad bid for President of Taiwan. “Whether it’s Wisconsin or Mexico, it’s not political, it’s business from my perspective.”