Foxconn Industrial Internet denies signing deal with TN

BEIJING/TAIPEI: A subsidiary of tech giant Foxconn said it had not signed any agreement to invest Rs 1600 crore ($194.6 million) in TN, a Reuters report, citing China’s Securities Times copy, said on Tuesday.

This comes on the back of TN government’s announcement on Monday that it had signed a deal with Foxconn for a new electronic components manufacturing facility that would create 6,000 jobs. The Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII) facility will be built in the Kancheepuram district near Chennai, a state government source told Reuters on condition of anonymity as details are not yet public.

“We did not sign any investment agreement,” FII was quoted as saying by the Securities Times newspaper, adding the company had issued a statement in July refuting similar “rumours.” Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Foxconn’s venture attempting to build a standardised electric vehicle platform is targeting India or Thailand for the production of a small battery-powered car under development, the unit’s chief executive said.

The Taiwanese company’s EV platform unit Mobility in Harmony (MIH) would be willing to work with its parent or another company to build the new three-seat EV priced below $20,000 and tailor-made for a corporate delivery fleet, MIH CEO Jack Cheng told Reuters.

“You build where the potential market is...In India or Southeast Asia, you have a huge volume opportunity right now,” Cheng said, calling India a potential “emerging power for the next generation” in the EV sector. MIH had not previously described its manufacturing strategy or the potential customers for its new vehicle. Since 2021, Foxconn has had a joint venture with Thailand’s state-energy company PTT centred on EVs, an area of focus for the Southeast Asian country’s government. MIH plans to start production of the three-seat EV about 18 to 24 months after the prototype is unveiled in October, Cheng said. A six-seat EV is scheduled to follow in 2024 and a nine-seat model in 2025.

Based on its timeline, it would take MIH four years or more from its founding to first sales in a best case scenario.