Vietnam's VinFast discussing potential EV battery and components deal with Apple supplier Foxconn
Foxconn’s EV platform at a company event in 2020. Image: Reuters/Yimou Lee
Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup confirmed on Friday that its automotive subsidiary VinFast was in early stage talks with the Foxconn Technology Group about working together and that any partnership formed would focus on developing batteries and electric car parts.
"Vingroup has received proposals from Foxconn but nothing is concrete yet. The partnership, if any, will focus on developing the batteries and electric car parts," a spokesman for Vingroup said. "No decision on working together to produce EVs has been made yet."
The flagship EV VinFast VF33 concept.
According to Reuters, Foxconn has put forward a proposal to VinFast to acquire their EV production lines, However VinFast would prefer a partnership as it remains keen to keep and grow its EV business.
Foxconn naturally declined to comment, however chairman Liu Young-Way also stated that the company may consider producing electric vehicles at its Wisconsin, USA plant, or look to setting up production facilities in Mexico. Liu described Foxconn as the "new kid in town" for vehicle manufacturing, and said the company needs to quickly build up its capacity to earn trust from clients.
Foxconn has been the world’s largest contract manufacturer for OEM’s for a few years now, and has openly stated that it has ambitions to shake up the automotive industry, but offering startup and established players alike a shortcut to competing in the electric vehicles market.
There’s no reason to expect that this can’t happen; Foxconn has moved quickly to establish deals with companies like Fisker and Byton. Recently Foxconn successfully established a deal with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to provide contract manufacturing.
The VinFast LUX SA2.0 designed by Pininfarina. Image: VinFast
The VinFast LUX SA2.0 Interior.
Vinfast is the automotive arm of Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest conglomerate consisting of 48 subsidiary companies across real estate development, retail services, education, network security, healthcare and of course automotive manufacturing. The group has a combined estimated 50,000 employees, and a turnover in 2019 of 100 trillion VND - approximately $4.3 billion USD. Vinfast recently set up a research and devlopment arm in Australia, based in Melbourne.
The company sold around 30,000 vehicles in 2020, and plans to increase that by 50% in 2021. VinFast’s electric vehicle offerings are expected to begin hitting the domestic Vietnamese market by December 2021.
Source: Automotive News