Foxconn remains Apple’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic devices; the company has an iPhone assembly plant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, and an experimental electric vehicle assembly line will be built there, as noted by the South China Morning Post, citing a publication on the municipal government’s website.
Image source: Foxconn
On Tuesday, Foxconn held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility, which it plans to use in the future for contract assembly of electric vehicles for “well-known Chinese and foreign brands.” In the future, this enterprise should form around itself the largest industrial cluster of Foxconn for the assembly of vehicles with new types of power plants. In China, these include not only battery electric vehicles, but also hybrids with internal combustion engines, as well as cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
In general, Foxconn yesterday confirmed its intention to expand its cooperation with the authorities of Henan Province, in which Zhengzhou is located. Regional authorities expressed hope that Foxconn’s activities will cover new sectors of the economy. In April last year, the company chose Zhengzhou as the location for its headquarters in charge of new business areas. In addition to electric vehicles, the company intends to invest in the production of traction batteries, semiconductor components and robotics. The administrative building in Zhengzhou alone will be located on an area of 70,000 m2 and will cost Foxconn $137 million. In this city, a subsidiary of Foxconn New Energy Vehicle Industry Development was registered in January, whose activities, judging by the name, should focus on the development of vehicles with new types of power plants.