Foxtron Inc. or Foxtron Vehicle Technologies is a Taiwanese manufacturer of electric cars and buses based in

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, operating since 2020 as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between the technology company

Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...

and the car company Yulon.

History

In February 2020, Taiwanese electronic components giant

and local car manufacturer Yulon agreed to establish a

company. Previously, Foxconn had limited involvement in the automotive industry only as a component supplier or investor, and decided to actively enter it as a manufacturer. Yulon's automotive component development and manufacturing subsidiary Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Company (HAITEC) would invest NT$7.632 billion and hold a 49% share, while Foxconn would invest NT$7.944 B for a 51% share. Yulon previously had announced a joint venture with

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA), now part of Stellantis, was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of Car, automobiles, commercial vehicles, List of auto parts, auto parts and production systems. ...

on January 16, 2020. The goal was to develop electric cars. The joint venture's first product was the MIH (Mobility in Harmony) open EV platform, unveiled in October 2020 at the annual Hon Hai Technology Day (HHTD). MIH is an "open source" software and hardware platform for developing

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-boa ...

s (EV). The hardware portion of MIH is a typical EV skateboard chassis with modular options for front-, rear-, or all-wheel drive; the software portion of the MIH platform has "functions and characteristics

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

can be changed and improved through software upgrades after the car is delivered", according to Foxconn chairman Liu Yangwei. The joint venture set a goal to supply components and services for 10% of EVs worldwide by 2027. The Foxtron joint venture was formed that November, using an

outsourcing Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another ...

business model which the company calls Commissioned (or Contract) Design and Manufacturing Service (CDMS), under which Foxtron assumes the vehicle engineering design, styling, component supply chain management, and production management roles, while manufacturing is performed by another company. This leaves the automobile manufacturer responsible solely for marketing and after-sales service. Sources leaked the joint venture's first EV would be a

transit bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floo ...

in February 2021. In mid-October 2021, during the next HHTD, held in the capital of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, the Foxtron brand was officially launched with a goal to launch a range of electric cars and buses manufactured in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

starting from 2023. At HHTD 2021, Foxtron showed three prototype EVs: the Model C crossover utility vehicle, the Model T bus, and the high-end Model E sedan, which was styled by the Italian studio

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (; ; short for Pininfarina Società per Azioni) is an Italian automotive design, car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 ...

. The start of trial testing of the Model T bus was scheduled for 2022; the first buses were delivered to transit agencies in the southern Taiwan cities of

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

and

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

in March and October 2022 and one was imported to

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

to transport guests for the

G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

that November. Foxconn purchased the former

Lordstown Assembly The Lordstown Complex is a factory building and automotive manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, U.S. Lordstown is an industrial suburb of Youngstown, Ohio. It was a General Motors automobile factory from 1966 to 2019, comprising three faci ...

factory in

Lordstown, Ohio Lordstown is a village in southern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,332 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History Lordstown Township was one of the original survey township ...

from

Lordstown Motors Nu Ride Inc., formerly Lordstown Motors Corporation, is an American electric vehicle automaker located in Lordstown, Ohio. The company was based at the Lordstown Assembly plant, previously a General Motors factory. Lordstown Motors was known ...

in May 2022, with plans for Foxconn to take over assembly of the

Lordstown Endurance The Lordstown Endurance is a full-size battery electric pickup truck with wheel hub motors manufactured by Lordstown Motors in collaboration with Foxconn at its Ohio factory. The Endurance entered limited production in September 2022 with plans ...

and enter into a new joint venture to develop MIH-based vehicles. At HHTD22 in October 2022, Foxtron presented two concepts: an affordable urban

hatchback A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...

named the Model B, also styled by Pininfarina, and the Model V

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

, along with the production version of the Model C concept from HHTD21, which will be produced and marketed in Taiwan by Yulon's subsidiary

Luxgen Luxgen Motor Co., Ltd. is a northern Taiwanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Miaoli County, Taiwan, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Yulon, Yulon Motor. Luxgen was founded in 2009, and the company's motto is "Think Ahead." From 2010 t ...

as the n⁷, starting in 2023. Under the CDMS model, Foxtron CEO Andy Lee described the Luxgen n7 as having been designed by Foxtron (shown as the Model C), with manufacturing handled by Yulon at its factory in

Miaoli Miaoli City (Wade–Giles: ''Miao²-li⁴-shih⁴''; Hakka Chinese, Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ, PFS: ''Mèu-li̍t-sṳ''; Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Biâu-le̍k-chhī'' or ''Miâu-le̍k-chhī''; Japanese language, Japanese Byōritsushi) is a cou ...

, and delivery to Luxgen performed by Foxtron. Ed Hightower, the CEO of Lordstown, flew to Taiwan in 2022, seeking to meet with Foxtron executives and make a deal to bring production of a mid-size SUV to the Lordstown plant, but was denied an audience and flew back to Detroit after two weeks. In November 2022, Foxtron broke ground for a new factory in Thailand, which is intended for MIH-based EV production. The company sustained financial losses in 2021 and 2022. In October 2023, at the annual HHTD event, Liu Yangwei appeared with

Nvidia Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curti ...

CEO

Jensen Huang Jen-Hsun "Jensen" Huang ( zh, t=黃仁勳, poj=N̂g Jîn-hun, hp=Huáng Rénxūn; born February 17, 1963) is a Taiwanese and American businessman, electrical engineer, and philanthropist who is the president, co-founder, and chief executive of ...

and the production version of the Model B; they announced the companies would build "AI factories" to develop

autonomous driving Vehicular automation is using technology to assist or replace the operator of a vehicle such as a car, truck, aircraft, rocket, military vehicle, or boat. Assisted vehicles are ''semi-autonomous'', whereas vehicles that can travel without a ...

software. In addition, the Model N

panel van A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...

was unveiled. Foxtron went public on Monday, November 20, 2023; shares on the

Taiwan Stock Exchange The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE; ) is a financial institution, located in Taipei 101, in Taipei, Taiwan. The TWSE was established in 1961 and began operating as a stock exchange on 9 February 1962. It is regulated by the Financial S ...

closed down 9% on the first day of trading, amid concerns the demand for EVs was slowing. In February 2024, Foxtron exhibited the production Model B to the European public, accompanied by representatives of the model's designers, the Italian studio

. For HHTD 2024, Foxtron debuted two new vehicles: the Model D and the Model U. Model D is a "Lifestyle Multipurpose Utility Vehicle" styled by Pininfarina, and Model U is a mid-sized bus derived from the Model T, designed for narrow streets and long routes.

Products

MIH open platform

The Foxtron MIH open platform is a modular skateboard chassis which carries the traction battery under the cabin floor, within the

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

of the vehicle. Front-, rear-, or

all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. Types The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflects one axle with ...

are possible using one or two traction motor units.

Steering Steering is the control of the direction of motion or the components that enable its control. Steering is achieved through various arrangements, among them ailerons for airplanes, rudders for boats, cylic tilting of rotors for helicopters, ...

braking A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

, and vehicle speed/acceleration are controlled " by-wire", facilitating the development of

software. It is designed to accommodate vehicle segments from B through E using a variety of lengths, widths, and heights. Foxtron offers a

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...

for the platform named "EVKit". The onboard software is designed to be upgradable and interface with vehicle subsystem controllers, including the Vehicle Control Unit (powertrain), Electronic Stability Control (braking), Electric Power Steering, and Body Component Module (doors); it receives inputs from various modules that report vehicle states and other sensors which may include cameras, radar, and/or LiDAR. Vehicles developed by Foxtron using the MIH platform are intended to serve as

reference design A reference design is a technical design of a system that is intended for others to copy. It contains the essential elements of the system; however, third parties may enhance or modify the design as required. When discussing computer designs, th ...

s for automotive OEMs to rebrand and market under their own marque; for example, the Foxtron Model C is sold as the Luxgen n7. After the MIH Alliance was announced with the launch of the MIH platform in October 2020, it was spun off as the Mobility in Harmony Consortium in 2021, led by CEO Jack Cheng. The MIH Consortium has since developed an open-access small EV reference platform for

A-segment The A-segment is the first category in the passenger car classification system defined by the European Commission. It is used for city cars, the smallest category of passenger cars defined. A-segment sales represented approximately 4.2% of the ...

cars, known as Project X.

Vehicles

* Foxtron Model E (2021) * Foxtron Model C (2021), began production in 2023 as the

Luxgen n7 The Luxgen n7 (stylized with a superscript number as n7) is a 5- or 7-seat battery electric vehicle, battery electric mid-size crossover SUV produced by the Taiwanese car company Luxgen, approximately the same size as the conventionally powered Lux ...

* Foxtron Model T (2021) * Foxtron Model B (2022) * Foxtron Model V (2022) * Foxtron Model N (2023) * Foxtron Model D (2024) * Foxtron Model U (2024) * Foxtron Model A Concept (2024) File:Foxtron Model B GIMS 2024 1X7A1998.jpg, Foxtron Model B File:Foxtron Model C 01 -- Bangkok Motor Show -- 2022-03-23.jpg, Foxtron Model C File:Foxtron Model T 20221213 01.jpg, Foxtron Model T

References

{{reflist Foxtron Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2020 Business in Taiwan 2020 establishments in Taiwan Foxconn subsidiaries Joint ventures