Foxconn

Foxconn invests another $170M into EV SPAC Lordstown Motors • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 8, 2022Posted in EV, Foxconn, Lordstown Motors, TransportationNo Comments

Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn is increasing its investment in EV startup Lordstown Motors by buying $170 million in common stock and newly created preferred shares. Once the deal is complete, Foxconn will hold all of Lordstown’s outstanding preferred stock and 18.3% of its common stock on a pro forma basis. Foxconn will also have the right to two board seats, the companies said Monday. The additional investment comes a year after the electric light-duty truck manufacturer sold its 6.2-million-square-foot Lordstown, Ohio, factory to Foxconn. As part of that $230 million deal, which included a direct investment of $50 million, Foxconn agreed to help Lordstown Motors manufacture its Endurance pickup truck. Production of the electric pickup truck began in September 2022. This latest deal, specifically the $100 million direct preferred stock investment, replaces the joint venture funding announced last year by Foxconn and Lordstown Motors. The investment will occur in tranches and is subject to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. An initial closing is expected to be held later this month. Foxconn will purchase about 12.9 million shares of common stock at a purchase price of $1.76 per share, resulting in total proceeds of $22.7 million. Foxconn will also buy 300,000 shares of preferred stock at $100 per share, resulting in total proceeds of $30 million. The remaining shares of preferred stock will be purchased by Foxconn as Lordstown Motors achieves based certain milestones. After receiving approval from CFIUS, Foxconn will buy an additional 26.9 million shares of common stock at a purchase price of $1.76 per share, resulting in total proceeds of about $47.3 million. “Since announcing our first transaction with Foxconn more than a year ago, it has been our objective to develop a broad strategic partnership that leverages the capabilities of both companies. Foxconn’s latest investment is another step in that direction,” Lordstown Motors Executive Chairman Daniel Ninivaggi said in a statement. The companies said the fresh injection of capital will be used to fund development and design activities for a new electric vehicle program in collaboration with Foxconn, a manufacturing company best known for making Apple’s iPhone. Lordstown Motors is one of several companies that went public over the past two years by merging with a special purpose acquisition company DiamondPeak Holdings Corp., with a market value of $1.6 billion. The company struggled almost from the get-go, its demise fueled by a damning report by short-seller firm Hindenburg Research that accused the EV SPAC of misleading investors on both its demand and production capabilities. Hindenburg disputed that the company booked 100,000 pre-orders for its electric pickup truck, a stat shared by Lordstown Motors in January 2021. The company later cut its forecast and CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez resigned, just a few weeks after was reassuring investors of the company’s bright future. The missteps continued and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice opened investigations into the EV startup. Even after receiving a $400 million lifeline in from a hedge fund managed by investment firm Yorkville Advisors, Lordstown had its struggles, including losing GM as an investor. Its deal with Foxconn has been its best chance at survival even as supply chain issues limit production of its EV pickup.

iPhone maker Foxconn and Saudi Arabia are going into the EV business • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 3, 2022Posted in EV, Foxconn, Saudi Arabia, TransportationNo Comments

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has formed a joint venture with Foxconn to build and sell EVs, the latest move by the nation to meet its Vision 2030 goal of reducing its dependence on oil and diversifying its economy. The new company, called Ceer, will design, manufacture and sell a portfolio of EVs using BMW’s component technology, according to Thursday’s announcement. Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant that makes Apple’s iPhones, is developing the electrical architecture of the vehicles, which Saudi Arabia says will lead to a “portfolio of products” in the areas of infotainment, connectivity and autonomous driving technologies. The first EVs from the Ceer brand are expected come to market in 2025. The Saudi Public Investment Fund, or PIF, said Ceer is the nation’s first EV brand and will attract more than $150 million in foreign direct investment, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. Foreign direct investment, or FDI, is a key piece of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan. The country announced last year a national investment strategy to hit more than $100 billion annually in FDI by 2030. The PIF also said the Ceer brand is projected to contribute $8 billion to the kingdom’s GDP by 2034. PIF has made a number of its own investments in EVs and other clean technology. In 2018, the PIF invested $1 billion into Lucid Motors, becoming its largest shareholder. The PIF, which owns 61% of Lucid, made an initial commitment in spring 2022 to buy 50,000 of Lucid’s EV with an option to purchase an additional 50,000 vehicles over that same 10-year time frame. Foxconn has been pushing deeper into the automotive sector, particularly around EVs. Foxconn has landed deals to produce EVs for Lordstown Motors and Fisker. It als partnered with Taiwanese automaker Yulon Group to build an electric SUV called the Model C. Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way said in October at its third annual Hon Hai Tech Day event that he wanted to replicate the company’s success in manufacturing consumer gadgets into producing EVs for automakers.

Fisker bumps up production for all-electric Ocean SUV • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 3, 2022Posted in electric vehicles, fisker, Fisker Ocean, Foxconn, magna, TransportationNo Comments

Fisker is raising its manufacturing forecast two weeks before its first electric vehicle, the Ocean SUV, enters production. The automaker plans to produce 42,400 Ocean SUVs by the end of 2023, up from an initial forecast of 40,000, due to strong demand in the U.S. and Europe. The company said it has received 62,000 reservations for the $37,499 Ocean and expects 80,000 orders by the end of the year, compared with an initial target of 50,000. That means that not everyone who has reserved an Ocean will receive one in 2023. “For us, I don’t see it as a bad thing because that means we’re fully booked out, which is great,” CEO Henrik Fisker told ZebethMedia. Many of those reservations came in August, shortly ahead of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which eliminates the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs built abroad. “It was a Friday when it looked like Congress would pass the bill, and I immediately got together with three executives and we said, ‘Hey, what can we do?’” Fisker said. The company scrambled to launch a redesigned website by Monday afternoon and put out a press release notifying customers they had a week to reserve the Ocean before losing eligibility for the tax credit. “We acted quickly and enabled Ocean reservation holders to enter into a binding contract to potentially retain eligibility for the old federal EV tax credit,” Fisker said. “In less than a week, we sold out our U.S. allotment of Ocean Sport and Ultra trim levels.” The Ocean will enter production in Graz, Austria, on November 17, the same day slated for the launch of its 3D configurator as well as updates to its mobile phone app and website. Fisker will deliver a fleet of 15 SUVs to partner Magna in December. Fisker said it is in discussions with potential partners to boost capacity mid-2024 by adding a U.S. production site. The automaker, which went public through a SPAC deal in 2020, reported a widening net loss of $149.3 million, or a .49 loss per share, for the quarter ended September 30. That compares with a net loss of $109.8 million, or a .37 loss per share, for the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the third quarter was $14 million, slightly less than the $15 million it posted for the same period last year. During its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, the automaker outlined its quarterly production plan for 2023. Fisker plans to build “more than 300” Ocean units by the end of the first quarter, 8,000 units in the second quarter, 15,000 in the third, and the balance of the remaining 42,400 units in the fourth. Fisker also said it is on track to start production of its second vehicle, the Fisker PEAR crossover, in 2024 with partner Foxconn at the former Lordstown Motors plant in Ohio. Foxconn purchased the site, originally a General Motors factory, from struggling EV startup Lordstown Motors in May. The company said it has received more than 5,000 reservations for the sub-$30,000 PEAR, an acronym for “Personal Electric Automotive Revolution.” A third model, a luxury GT sports car known internally as Project Ronin, is still in development, Fisker said.

Foxconn pushes deeper into automotive with an electric pickup and crossover • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 18, 2022Posted in electric pickup, Foxconn, hon hai, TransportationNo Comments

Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant that makes Apple’s iPhones, unveiled Tuesday two electric vehicle concepts at its third annual Hon Hai Tech Day as the company tries to diversify its business and take on the automotive market. The two vehicles, a Model V electric pickup truck and Model B electric crossover hatchback, is a message to automakers (and specifically, Tesla): Foxconn is open for business. At the event, Foxconn’s chairman Liu Young-way said the company wanted to replicate its level of success manufacturing consumer gadgets into producing EVs for automakers. Young-way even said he hopes Foxconn will one day make cars for Tesla. Foxconn’s Model V electric pickup. Image Credit: Foxconn In the U.S., the company is already working with Lordstown Motors and Fisker to produce EVs on their behalf, and is also partnering with Taiwanese automaker Yulon Group to build its Model C, an electric SUV that was first revealed this time last year at Foxconn’s last Tech Day. While the main event was the Model B crossover and the Model V pickup, Foxconn also showcased the Model C, which the company says can travel from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds and a range of 435 miles. Foxconn expects the Model C to be delivered to Yulon in Taiwan in the second half of next year. Foxconn Model B electric crossover. Image Credit: Foxconn The Model B crossover will be based on the Model C platform, but will come with a new body design, according to the company. It will have an S-duct design, which is often seen on aircraft, a streamlined roof and an air curtain that will reduce air turbulence and allow for a drag coefficient of 0.26. The Model B will have a range of about 280 miles, Foxconn said. Details for the Model V were scant, but Foxconn says it will be Taiwan’s first self-developed electric pickup and will have a payload of up to 1 ton and a towing capacity of 3 tons (of course no word on how that towing will affect range). The all-terrain EV pickup will have a double-cab, five-seat configuration, and will feature a range of sensors around the vehicle which Foxconn says “not only improves safety, but offers intelligent technology to users.” We’re interpreting that as an advanced driver assistance system. Foxconn’s strategy leans heavily into vertical integration. The plan is to standardize software and hardware that will be shared across its vehicles as well as help its automaker customers like Lordstown Motors and Fisker. Vertical integration isn’t certainly not new. Tesla is famous for it. Today, an increasing number of automakers including legacy companies like General Motors, are pushing even deeper into that strategy. Foxconn says its HHEV.OS software platform will help shorten the development time of vehicles for a more rapid launch. “We used to make PCs and mobile phones. From now and into the future, we will create EVs,” said Young-way in a statement. “In the EV industry, we are resolute about CDMS: This means contract design and manufacturing service. This commitment will not change. In the next 10 years, Hon Hai in the EV industry will redefine CDMS in the automotive field and continue to promote vertically integrated technology services.”