Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group says it plans to reach net revenues of $1 trillion in its electric vehicle business by 2025 and says part of the work being done in that segment is coming to Wisconsin.
The news was first reported by Nikkei Asia, a financial newspaper based in Tokyo.
A transcript of the company’s latest investor conference call shows that Foxconn plans to use its Mount Pleasant manufacturing facility to develop battery cells and battery packs. Some EV work will also be done in Lordstown, Ohio.
“In our EV business, this year, we will actively expand our EV layout in North America, and comprehensively cooperate with traditional and start-up auto manufacturers,” said Young Liu, Hon Hai Technology Group chairman and CEO. “Aside from adding new product lines for electronic control and sensors, testing and verification of battery cells and battery packs will also be carried out.”
Liu said the federal Inflation Reduction Act has been beneficial to the company in its goal of gaining more EV orders. Foxconn has been gradually investing in EV-related fields. The company also has an EV manufacturing facility in Thailand that is under construction and will initially produce 50,000 EVs annually once completed later this year.
“Hon Hai expanded into the United States well before the Inflation Reduction Act was introduced,” said Liu. “We developed in the United States not because of IRA, but due to the trend of regionalized manufacturing. After we deployed into the United States and Mexico, here comes IRA. To us, the timing is pretty good.”
Foxconn officials originally planned to build a 32-million-square-foot complex in Mount Pleasant that would produce more than 6 million LCD screens each year, but those plans never came to fruition. The company has built a smaller complex there making other products, including servers and server racks.
Foxconn signed a $3 billion incentive contract with the state for its original plans in the state, and after developing a much smaller complex the company renegotiated and took an offer from the state that gives the company up to $80 million in tax credits for hitting certain hiring and investment targets. The manufacturer has created 768 jobs throughout its life in Wisconsin. Foxconn originally planned to create 13,000 jobs at the Mount Pleasant complex.
