After several years of EV business planning, Foxconn finally initiated cooperation with a reputable automaker: VW. The joint venture will reboot VW’s paused US market electric pickup Scout and begin the following mass production process. The partnership will be a breakthrough for Foxconn’s EV business and the first step into the global auto industry. Meanwhile, VW is also in talks with OEM giant Magna to form a potential partnership. So far, the EV ODM race has officially started, with such associations becoming a new business ecosystem in the EV era.
During the November MIH Demo Day debut at Nangang Exhibition Center, Foxconn’s Model V electric concept pickup demonstrated its development flexibility to branch out to trucks, industrial vehicles, ambulances, and other models with its expandable design platform. The current Scout pickup's target market matches that of Endurance, an electric pickup from the Foxconn-invested startup Lordstown. With US's massive pickup market, Ford F-150 Lightning has become a star product, and Tesla’s Cybertruck now boasts 1.5 million orders. Because of this, VW, with a lackluster sales performance in the US, is hoping to grasp the opportunity and strive in the pickup market. However, from an EV tech developing perspective, VW’s brand-new SSP platform release may be delayed until 2026. On the other hand, although VW’s development plans for its pickup, Amarok 2.0, include EV versions, the project aimed to partner with Ford, who excels in pickup chassis techs. With a new CEO in September, the VAG Group’s plan adjustments will veer further away from Ford (for example, the jointly-funded autonomous driving startup Argo.ai’s closure). As a result, Amarok’s electric version remains unresolved, and VW’s Scout must seek partners familiar with US consumer demands to accelerate its R&D for the US market. Under these circumstances, the more possible US partnership candidates with VW remain startup Rivian and Foxconn/Lordstown. However, the former company formed a partnership with Mercedes a few months ago, so Foxconn/Lordstown, which has electric pickup technologies and assembly plants, remains the only one who can assist in Scout’s product development. As for Magna, VW’s other option, its partnership possibility would probably be lower than that of Foxconn. Magna doesn’t have developed EV pickup products and technologies like Lordstown, and a lack of US assembly plants will put the company’s development schedule at a great disadvantage. As for manufacturing cost control, no company can remotely compete with Foxconn.
Since 2015’s Volkswagen diesel gate, VW’s NA sales performance has been declining steadily. With the federal government’s push for charging station deployment and legislation to protect domestic EV development, GM, Ford, Tesla, and other US brands will reap the most benefits, while VW, with lackluster progress in developing EV platforms, will have to endure a bleaker future. While Scout lacks development resources and support from its parent company, the only way out lies in the highly efficient company that yearns to go mainstream in the auto industry: Foxconn. While Foxconn will likely play the supporting character in this joint venture, the US plant establishment and the VW vehicle assembly business will be significant for the company’s future auto business development, which far outweighs profitability.