A Byton M-Byte electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) will be unveiled on Sunday, January 5, 2020 at the CES 2020 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Bridget Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images
GUANGZHOU, China – Apple’s iPhone maker Foxconn has signed an agreement with Chinese electric car maker Byton to build its first vehicle.
The move suggests that Foxconn has a big impact on automobile manufacturing as it seeks to diversify its business rather than just manufacturing electrical products.
Foxconn, which Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. traded in Taiwan, its shares rose more than 4% on Tuesday after closing more than 8% on Monday.
Byton, Foxconn and Nanjing Development Zone on Monday signed a strategic framework agreement for collaboration to jointly manufacture Byton’s M-Byte SUV by the first quarter of 2022.
Foxconn will deliver its expertise in advanced manufacturing technology, operations management experience and share industrial resources, according to a statement from the companies.
The deal could provide a lifeline for Byton, which first unveiled the M-Byte in 2018 but has since struggled to increase production. The company in Nanjing, China, had to halt production in July and undergo a reorganization after the coronavirus pandemic hurt the business.
For Foxconn, the deal is a way to diversify its business. Last year, Foxconn introduced a set of tools with which a company can design large parts of an electric motor that will be manufactured by the Taiwanese firm. These tools include a chassis as well as software for the vehicle.
Foxconn has already supplied specific components to automakers, including Tesla.
The Chinese market for electric vehicles continues to show strong growth. Start-ups for electric cars Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng have each announced in the last few days that deliveries have risen in 2020 to end the year with new monthly highs.