Foxconn planning to make EVs in India? Here’s what we know so far

Foxconn’s EV platform is aiming to produce small battery-operated cars – and India is one of the contenders for the production site, along with Thailand. 

The Taiwanese company’s EV platform Mobility in Harmony (MIH) CEO Jack Cheng told news agency Reuters that the company would be willing to work with its parent or another company to build a three-seat EV priced below $20,000. The new EV would be tailor-made for a corporate delivery fleet, said Cheng. 

MIH is already in talks with convenience stores, car rental companies and courier companies ahead of the unveiling of the EV’s prototype at Japan’s auto trade show in October, said Cheng. 

While he declined to comment on the companies they are working with, Cheng said that India and Thailand are likely contenders for the production site. India is expected to be crucial to the platform’s long-term growth, as said by Cheng. 

"You build where the potential market is...In India or Southeast Asia, you have a huge volume opportunity right now," Cheng said. He called India a potential "emerging power for the next generation" in the EV sector.

According to the news agency, MIH plans to start production of the EV about 18-24 months after the prototype is unveiled in October. Cheng also stated that a six-seat EV is scheduled to follow in 2024 and a nine-seat model in 2025.

Foxconn currently has plans to gain a 5 per cent of the global market by 2025. Foxconn produces a small number of EVs at present, and MIH’s sales would count towards Foxconn’s 2025 target. 

Cheng underscored the pace at which an EV maker could scale up by citing Elon Musk’s Tesla’s example in Shanghai. "I'm building another Shanghai, probably in India. If this is a Foxconn plant, fantastic, it's the mother company, we put it into the Foxconn plant. If this is a local India plant and it's even more competitive, give it to the India plant,” he said. 

The MIH consortium that includes some 2,600 suppliers was established by Foxconn two years ago with the aim of creating an open platform that could become the equivalent of Google's Android operating system for EVs. 

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