Foxconn Has an EV Lineup with an SUV for American Shoppers

• Apple iPhone manufacturer Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn, reveals additional EV models in Taipei, including an SUV aimed at North America.

• The company has been pursuing a contract manufacturing strategy, developing and assembling EVs for separately owned brands, with models now occupying quite a few segments.

• The Foxtron Model C, as it is known, is slated to enter production in 2025, but details of a US launch under a separate brand remain murky.

Apple iPhone maker Hon Hai Technology Group, better known in the west as Foxconn, has been a player in the EV field for a few years now, building vehicles in Taiwan sold under the Luxgen brand.

The company has effectively pursued a strategy similar to the iPhone itself: Foxconn serves as a contract manufacturer for other companies' brands, letting them handle the sales and marketing side of the auto business, while assembling the products themselves in its own facilities.

In this regard Foxconn is similar to supplier Magna Steyr, for example, which also serves as a contract manufacturer for various automotive brands, while Foxconn pursues what it calls a Contract Design and Manufacturing Service (CDMS) business model.

It even has its own Foxtron brand, but it's not a consumer-facing one, meaning we won't see these on the street badged as Foxtrons even in Taiwan.

Foxconn isn't content with building its current offerings solely for the Taiwanese market and a handful of others in the region. The company has also been interested in entering North America.

Foxconn has taken the wraps off three new reference models, as it calls them, previewing an updated SUV dubbed the Model C, alongside a Model D electric van and Model U bus.

The Model C itself was first revealed in 2021, but Foxconn has now updated the vehicle with a refreshed exterior design and other elements, noting that this North American variant was "created in cooperation with American partners."

The Model C, Foxconn said, is expected to enter mass production by the end of 2025, but did not specify which brand could offer it stateside.

"The latest models join a terrific lineup of EVs displaying our range and maturity in automotive development," said Young Liu, Chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group.

"The EVs going to market with our B2B customers are standing up to real tests in automotive endurance, safety, and reliability."

Foxconn's other reference model reveals were perhaps even more of a spectacle than the SUV.

The Model D van, styled in cooperation with Pininfarina SpA, previews a luxury minivan with a modern design, while the Model U gave industry watchers and automakers a look at a future light-duty bus model.

If there is one other ace Foxconn has up its sleeve, it's a factory in Ohio that it has taken over from Lordstown Motors. The former GM plant was slated to produce the Fisker Pear, among other models, in the not too distant past. But with Fisker's current bankruptcy process, we have a feeling that Foxconn's calendar has cleared up quite a bit.

Still, it's the Model C that is expected to make the most sense for North American buyers, even if this particular segment is currently creaking under the weight of the various options from existing brands.

If there is one further phenomenon that should have a sobering effect on aspiring North American EV brands, it's the fact that the EV market has been incredibly fickle over the past few years, and models developed during one particular consumer environment almost always arrive in a very different one.

Is the current demand for EVs largely met by existing manufacturers, or is there still an open door for new brands to be launched stateside? Let us know what you think in the comments below.