Fisker : Foxconn to Build Cars for Electric-Vehicle Startup Fisker

By Ben Foldy and Stephanie Yang

Foxconn Technology Group, the world's biggest electronics contract manufacturer, has agreed to assemble cars for electric-vehicle startup Fisker Inc., the latest deal for the Apple iPhone assembler in its eager expansion into the automotive sector over the past year.

Taipei-based Foxconn and Los Angeles-based Fisker have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly produce more than 250,000 vehicles a year, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. Under the deal, Foxconn would produce Fisker's second model -- a higher-volume electric car that the car maker aims to start building in the fourth quarter of 2023, the companies said. The car would be built on vehicle underpinnings developed by Foxconn and would be sold in North America, Europe, China and India, the companies said.

For Foxconn, the Fisker deal is the latest in a series of tie-ups with auto makers to jointly develop or build vehicles, including the then- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. -- now Stellantis N.V. -- and China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

In recent years, some electric vehicle startups like Fisker have been focusing on designing cars while outsourcing vehicle production, in a challenge to the traditional business model in the automotive sector, in which established car makers designed and produced their own vehicles.

Write to Ben Foldy at [e-mail] and Stephanie Yang at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-24-21 0740ET