Foxconn to deepen role in electric vehicles with acquisition of Luxgen brand in Taiwan – report

Foxconn’s vehicle design subsidiary is set to acquire full control of Taiwanese automobile brand Luxgen, Nikkei Asia reported.

The move will give the contract electronics giant an internal brand as it expands further into electric vehicles in its domestic market.

Foxtron Vehicle Technologies, a joint venture established by Foxconn and automaker Yulon in 2020, has agreed to buy 100% of the Luxgen brand for DF787 million ($24.9 million).

Foxtron has until now been primarily responsible for the research, development and design of electric vehicles.

Once the transaction is finalized, Foxtron will take control of Luxgen’s operations, including its workforce, sales and dealer network, marketing assets, and island-wide after-sales and service facilities.

Taiwan-based Foxconn is best known as the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and is also an AI server provider.

The electric vehicle sector is one of the key growth areas identified by Chairman Young Liu since he took over from founder Terry Gou in 2019.

Liu pushed for the creation of Foxtron, chaired the unit and oversaw its listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2023.

He stepped down as chairman at the end of September, and CEO Andy Lee took over the role.

Foxtron recently registered “Foxtron” as a trademark in Taiwan, along with model names such as Bria, Cavera, Enizio and Divino for different types of electric vehicles, a step that sets the stage for selling its own models in the local market.

The move to own a consumer-facing brand raises questions about whether Foxconn is moving away from its previously announced strategy of focusing on contract design and manufacturing services (CDMS) for other automakers.

Liu has repeatedly emphasized that this model will support the company’s electric vehicle expansion.

A senior official familiar with Foxconn’s internal discussions said Luxgen’s move is intended to focus on Taiwan for now and should not undermine the basic approach of the CDMS.

“Foxconn and Foxtron have been in discussions with foreign customers. Foxtron’s decision to acquire Luxgen will now focus on the domestic market, which we believe will not contradict Foxconn’s CDMS strategy,” the publication quoted the person as saying.

Drawing a parallel with the technology sector, the source added: “Just as Google is showing off the Pixel phones and Microsoft is showing off the Surface series, this would give Foxtron the opportunity to show its current and potential customers what optimizing its designs and integrating software and hardware can achieve in a car.” »

Foxtron revealed the design of the n7 electric passenger vehicle in 2023, and the model entered the Taiwan market in 2024 under the Luxgen badge.

Under the current partnership, Foxtron is responsible for design, Yulon handles manufacturing, and Luxgen handles sales and marketing.

At one point, monthly sales of the n7 exceeded those of Tesla in Taiwan, but demand later declined.

Luxgen sold 254 n7 units in Taiwan last month, bringing cumulative sales for the first 11 months of the year to 3,041 vehicles.

Beyond its domestic electric vehicle efforts, Foxconn last month agreed to participate in a global autonomous driving initiative alongside Stellantis, Nvidia and Uber, aimed at developing “hands-off, eyes-free” Level 4 autonomous vehicles for robotaxi use worldwide.

Foxconn said it would bring its capabilities in high-performance computing, sensor integration and electronic control systems to the alliance.

The company said its hardware and integration know-how will be combined with Nvidia’s AI platforms, including Nvidia Drive AGX Thor and the DRIVE AV software stack, as well as Stellantis’ vehicle architectures and Uber’s global network, to support the deployment of autonomous mobility services.

“Foxconn to deepen role in electric vehicles with acquisition of Luxgen brand in Taiwan – report” was originally created and published by Just Auto, a brand owned by GlobalData.

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