1 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,239 Speaker 1: When you think of electric vehicles or evs, Tesla is 2 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: probably the first name that pops into your head, and 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: maybe Rivian or even Forward with its F one fifty 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: lightning electric pickup truck that's been sold out everywhere. One 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: name that's likely not on that list Fox Khn, the 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: Taiwan based tech giant, is best known as the company 7 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: that manufactures iPhones for Apple, along with dozens of popular 8 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: electronic devices for other companies. Bloomberg's Read Stevenson reports that 9 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: now Fox Cohn wants to do the same thing for EV's. 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: The company is betting that many automakers won't want to 11 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: deal with the complexity and expense of developing their own 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: EV production lines. Instead, they'll hire Foxkhnn to build the 13 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: cars for them. The company bought a sprawling former General 14 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: Motors plant in Ohio, and it's refitting it to manufacture 15 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: electric vehicles. 16 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: Fox Con has the flexibility to say, look, we'll take 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 2: your business whichever percentage of the car you need us 18 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 2: to handle, and the proposition that they can do it 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 2: faster and cheaper. 20 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: I'm west Kasova today on the Big Take fox CON's 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: leap from your pocket to your parking spot. Read We 22 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: talk a lot about how electric cars are their future, 23 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: and every manufacturer wants to get in on it, just 24 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: like Tesla, but they're having a hard time. Why has 25 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: it been so difficult for legacy auto makers to switch 26 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: out combustion engines for electric ones. 27 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 2: Combustion engines are the product of one hundred plus years 28 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 2: of technology, they're existing custom there's a lot of investment 29 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 2: that you know, went into hybrids, and to ditch all 30 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 2: of that. It's the classic innovator's dilemma, Right, do you 31 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 2: kill your current customer base in order to transition to 32 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 2: an entirely new set of customers. The economics are different, 33 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 2: and so what you're finding with Ford and GM and Stilantis, 34 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 2: you know, the transition is very tricky. It's going to 35 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 2: take longer than most people think. It's going to involve 36 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,839 Speaker 2: a lot of pain, and so what you're saying this year, 37 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:37,959 Speaker 2: for example, is it's just going to happen in fits 38 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 2: and starts. So Ford loses money on every F one 39 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 2: fifty lightning electric pickup that they make. The company as 40 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 2: a whole, it's ev unit is on track to lose 41 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 2: four and a half billion dollars this year. That sort 42 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 2: of leads you to the notion that starting from zero 43 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 2: is the way to go. You can kind of look 44 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 2: at Tesla as really an anomaly. You know, they kind 45 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 2: of pulled off the impossible, which is going from a 46 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 2: startup into a fairly largely scaled manufacturer that's purely focused 47 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 2: on EVS. Obviously byd in China and Neo in China 48 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 2: and other companies have also gone well along this path. 49 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 2: And so when you look at it from both ends, 50 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 2: from the startup end and then from the sort of 51 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,679 Speaker 2: legacy carmaker, and coming from either end of those spectrums 52 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 2: is just proving to be absolutely a nightmare for some. 53 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: So every auto manufacturer wants to get into EVS because 54 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: it's the future and yet really expensive to make, especially 55 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: at scale. And into this picture you write, comes Fox Khan, 56 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: the giant Taiwanese manufacturer. Can you remind us just what 57 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: Fox Cohn is? 58 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 2: So Foxcom makes two out of every three iPhone, They 59 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 2: make the Nintendo switch, ring doorbells, Sony PlayStation, Google Pixel. 60 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 2: There's actually a pretty good chance that you're listening to 61 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 2: this podcast on a device that was built in one 62 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 2: of fox CON's factories, and it's made its business essentially 63 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 2: as a manufacturer for other name brands. It's not a 64 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 2: brand unto itself. Instead, what it does it leverages massive 65 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 2: scale and access to labor in China in order to 66 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 2: build devices for essentially almost any major electronics manufacturer that 67 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 2: you can think of. In fact, they're the world's third 68 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 2: largest private employer after Amazon and Walmart, with one point 69 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 2: two million employees spread across the world, and even within 70 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 2: one factory in Shensan, China, they have hundreds of thousands 71 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 2: of people working in dozens of factories with restaurants, a 72 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 2: bank of fire station, power plant, hospital, all within a 73 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 2: single facility that they use to make the iPhone and 74 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 2: all these other gadgets. 75 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: And read with this kind of capability to build all 76 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: kinds of products, you write that a lot of these 77 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: big name brand manufacturers years ago said it's just not 78 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: worth trying to manufacture this stuff ourselves. We'll just give 79 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: it to Fox kind to do it for us for. 80 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 2: All these gadgets. You know, initially many of these brands 81 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 2: started to make them themselves close to home or in 82 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 2: the United States or elsewhere, and then realize that outsourcing 83 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 2: it made far more business sense. And so essentially this 84 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 2: is the argument that Foxcom wants to bring to the 85 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 2: EV industry that when you look at how these startups 86 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 2: are struggling, how these legacy carmakers are struggling, their proposition is, look, 87 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 2: we'll build the EV for you. You can keep the brand name, 88 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 2: you can keep all the flourishes that you would put 89 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 2: onto it. But we can pull resources, we can access labor, 90 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 2: we can build deep and wide supply chain in order 91 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 2: to make the economics of building and selling EV's work 92 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 2: for essentially any customer. A customer can go to fox 93 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 2: Conn and say, you know what, you build ninety percent 94 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 2: of the car, and we'll build ten percent of it 95 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 2: the badge and the colors and maybe the interior design. 96 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 2: Or they may say, you know what, we can build 97 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 2: sixty percent of the car, and we need fox Con 98 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 2: to build specific parts, maybe the suspension, maybe the powertrain, 99 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 2: and fox Con has the flexibility to say, look, we'll 100 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 2: take your business whichever sort of percentage of the car 101 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 2: you need us to handle. And the proposition that they 102 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:41,839 Speaker 2: can do it faster and cheaper. 103 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: And read one of the things you write is the 104 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: reason why fox Kin is able to do this is 105 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: they not only manufacture things but they have access to 106 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: every kind of part you would need for a product 107 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: all around. 108 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 2: The world exactly. So the other way to think of 109 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 2: fox con is that it's also a supplier and not 110 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,919 Speaker 2: just an assembler. And so whether it's developing technology on 111 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 2: its own, it's designing its own chips, it's designing components, 112 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 2: it can build it. It can also go find it, 113 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 2: and when you look at commonality across devices, it can 114 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 2: start to take advantage of scale, so that motors or 115 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 2: certain components might be found in multiple different vehicles just 116 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 2: because they have access to it, and they can offer 117 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 2: it to those name brands much cheaper. 118 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: So you could see why a struggling automaker looking to 119 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: get into the EV market or even a startup would 120 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: find this as an alternative to trying to do all 121 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: this stuff themselves. But what's in it for fox hhon? 122 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,679 Speaker 1: Why would they want to take on this really big 123 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,679 Speaker 1: puzzle which is completely different from what they're doing right now. 124 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 2: So for fox Cohn, what you're seeing is that their 125 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 2: core business smartphones and electronics and gadgets, we're reaching a 126 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 2: certain saturation point. Foxconne has gone out and tried to 127 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 2: find ever bigger markets to break into and Eves was 128 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 2: one of them. You know, with the disruption and the 129 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 2: transition to electric vehicles, they see an opportunity to kind 130 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 2: of wedge themselves in there. 131 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: And it is the idea that because fox Hn is 132 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: so huge, they need to take on big markets in 133 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: order to even make a blip in their earnings. 134 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 2: Exactly, they had two hundred and twenty two billion dollars 135 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 2: in revenue last year, and in order to really move 136 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 2: that needle, the electric vehicle industry was an obvious target. 137 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 2: Even at the current status of the industry, we're talking 138 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,679 Speaker 2: about three hundred and eighty billion dollars. And in addition 139 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 2: to that, fox Conn is going to be looking at 140 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 2: other areas such as robotics and digital health devices. 141 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: So read fox KHN wants to move into making electric vehicles, 142 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: and you write that one of the centers of this 143 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: operation is actually in the US. 144 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 2: Exactly. The big difference between making evs and something like 145 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 2: a smartphone is that you're going to have to produce 146 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 2: them locally. There's transport costs, there's also local tariffs and 147 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 2: regulations and subsidies that you can't tap into unless you 148 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 2: build locally. Smartphones and gadgets and devices are much easier 149 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 2: because most of them are hauled as air cargo around 150 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 2: the world from those factories in China, and so fox 151 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 2: Con is going to be building ev factories around the 152 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 2: world or buying them. The one that's being built is 153 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 2: in Thailand right now, but the one that's actually sort 154 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 2: of operational right now is in Lordstown, Ohio, in the 155 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 2: eastern part of the state. And this is a factory 156 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 2: that GM started in nineteen sixty six. It made a 157 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 2: bunch of Chevies over the years, and in twenty nineteen, 158 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,959 Speaker 2: GM was really seeing demand shrink for especially its compacts. 159 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 2: Hybrid vehicles were really sort of the preferred choice for 160 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 2: at least smaller vehicles. Lordstown was identified as one of 161 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 2: the plants that would be closed and it went idle 162 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 2: in twenty nineteen. There was a bit of a blip 163 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 2: before fox Conn took over. Essentially a startup called Lordstown 164 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 2: Motors Corp. Came in initially took the factory off of 165 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 2: GM's hands, and then later on another deal sort of 166 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 2: ended up with Foxcom buying the factory from Lordstown Motors. 167 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 2: Lordstown Motors went Chapter eleven earlier this year, so essentially 168 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 2: you know, fox Con is the last remaining entity standing 169 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 2: in Lordstown. It owns the plant. It bought it for 170 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 2: two hundred and thirty million dollars, and what it's essentially 171 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 2: doing is it's preparing it for a future where they 172 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 2: will be building evs for a variety of manufacturers. 173 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: After the break, a look inside fox CON's Ohio factory. 174 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,559 Speaker 2: When I visited the plant, it's actually a multiple buildings 175 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 2: spread across a huge swath of land right next to 176 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 2: A eight in Ohio. There's an assembly building, there's a 177 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 2: metal stamping plant. There's a paint shop, but it's not 178 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 2: really a shop. It's just a huge building onto itself. 179 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 2: And what they're doing is they're essentially taking inventory. So 180 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 2: in one building, where they used to have robot arms, 181 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 2: you know, welding parts together, all of those robot arms 182 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 2: have now been removed off the line and set off 183 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 2: and lined up on the side. They're assessing which ones 184 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 2: might need repair, which ones work fine. The metal stamping 185 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 2: machines are also being inventoried in a similar manner. The 186 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 2: assembly lines have kind of been stripped back to their basics. 187 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,080 Speaker 2: One of the people there told me that what they 188 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 2: were creating was sort of like a supermarket of factory parts, 189 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 2: so that whenever they did start to get orders for 190 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 2: making vehicles, they could pull them out and start rebuilding 191 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 2: the assembly lines for whatever the customers would need. And 192 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 2: really that's the big question here, is whether the business 193 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 2: is going to come in the coming months or years. 194 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: And who's working there right now, who's taking this inventory 195 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: and getting the factory ready for its next customers. 196 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, so the workers at the factory are mostly former 197 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 2: GM workers. For a brief period, many of them worked 198 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 2: for Lordstown Motors, and now they work for Fox Cohn. 199 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 2: When I was there, they opened up a shop actually 200 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 2: so that the employees could go and get Fox con 201 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 2: t shirts and hoodies and baseball caps. And along with 202 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 2: a bunch of Taiwanese employees, they're essentially preparing the factory, 203 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 2: or at least keeping it sort of at a bare 204 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 2: subsistence level so that they can build evs when that 205 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 2: day comes. 206 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: Now, this isn't Fox Cohn's first attempt to start a 207 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: manufacturing plant in the US. 208 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 2: You're absolutely right. In Wisconsin, just a few years earlier, 209 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 2: the founder of the company, Terry Guoh, who was still 210 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 2: running it at the time, essentially he saw sort of 211 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 2: a threat to his business model with the Trump administration 212 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 2: coming in. Trump was keen to get factories back to 213 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 2: the US employee workers in the US otherwise, you know, 214 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 2: the threat was that he would impose tariffs on products 215 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 2: that were built in China and elsewhere. So the idea 216 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 2: by Terry Guoh, Foxcon's founder was to build electronics in Wisconsin, 217 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 2: and so he started a factory there. In fact, it's 218 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,559 Speaker 2: still there. It actually employs even more people, about a 219 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 2: thousand people. But it wasn't really clear from the get 220 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 2: go what the factory was going to build. Initially, the 221 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 2: idea was flat panel televisions. Right now it's doing some 222 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 2: assembly of servers. But the current CEO, Young Lieu, who 223 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 2: took over from Terry Guoh and nineteen, has essentially decided 224 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 2: that the Wisconsin factory is going to become part of 225 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 2: the supply chain for EV manufacturing in the US and 226 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 2: at Lordstown, and that it could possibly be used to 227 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 2: build battery packs. 228 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: So this factory in Lordtown aims to be far more 229 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: ambitious because you write that building EV's is many times 230 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: more complicated than building even a device like the iPhone. 231 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 2: Building an EV is somewhere between I would say, building 232 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 2: a smartphone and building a car. So if you imagine 233 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 2: a smartphone has several hundred components, circuit boards, et cetera, 234 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 2: a battery, chips, it starts to resemble an EV. But 235 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 2: an EV has many more components one thy, five hundred 236 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 2: and above. But then when you look at it from 237 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 2: the point of view of a fuel burning engine car, 238 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 2: you're looking at tens of thousands of components. You know, 239 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 2: the engine alone has thousands, and so evs essentially kind 240 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 2: of sit in between that and fox CON's bed is that, well, look, 241 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 2: it's going to be simpler than building a car. It's 242 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 2: going to be more complicated than building a smartphone. But 243 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 2: we have decades of experience building a variety of devices, servers, computers, kindles, laptops, tablets, 244 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 2: and so essentially an EV is just sort of a 245 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 2: bigger version of that. As far as fox Conn is. 246 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: Concerned, Red you said that they're getting the factory already 247 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: for future orders, but have they gotten any interest. Are 248 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: any manufacturers coming to fox Hunt and saying, please make 249 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: our cars for us. 250 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 2: The interesting thing is there is exactly one customer that 251 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 2: is taking advantage of this factory in Lordstown. It's called 252 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 2: Monarch Tractor. It's an electric tractor that can be operated 253 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 2: remotely with a huge battery that lasts for about fourteen hours. 254 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 2: And if you think of the labor shortage that's going 255 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 2: on in the US, especially in the agricultural industry, it's 256 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 2: not a far fetched idea to have electric tractors that 257 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 2: can be operated remotely. You don't have any traffic concerns 258 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 2: when you have a tractor going through crop fields and 259 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 2: one person can actually operate several at the same time. 260 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 2: And so this essentially became a perfect kind of test 261 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 2: case for fox con to build a vehicle electric vehicle 262 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 2: without a whole lot of risk. These tractors from Monarch 263 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 2: cost about eighty nine thousand dollars each. They're fairly straightforward devices. 264 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 2: It's all hand assembly at the moment because there's not 265 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 2: a huge amount of volume. But what it does is 266 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 2: it's a proof of concept. It's something to show other 267 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 2: potential customers what Foxcunt can do at the factory. Based 268 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 2: on my conversations there, it seems that there's about ten 269 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 2: potential entities that are looking at building vehicles in Lordstown, 270 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 2: and about five of them are in a fairly advanced 271 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 2: negotiation stage. Foxcott hasn't told me which companies it's negotiating with. 272 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 2: It could be startups, or it could be legacy car makers. 273 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 2: The one that is public knowledge is Fisker. They're looking 274 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,640 Speaker 2: to build a second car called the Pair, and they've 275 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 2: publicly disclosed that their negotiations with fox Con, But as 276 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 2: far as I can tell, they haven't reached any final 277 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 2: agreement yet. 278 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: Read is there any indication of when this factory would 279 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:24,719 Speaker 1: be up and running. 280 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 2: It's essentially up and running right now, just at a 281 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 2: really really minor scale. At full capacity, this factory when 282 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 2: it was turning out Cheves could make about three hundred 283 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 2: and fifty thousand vehicles a year. Fox Con, with some 284 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 2: expansion there's some more land around, the factory could make 285 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 2: five hundred thousand vehicles a year. But just to put 286 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 2: that into perspective, Tesla made one point four million last year. 287 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 2: But that's not necessarily the number that matters. It's essentially 288 00:17:56,359 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 2: a factory for components as well, So even if if 289 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 2: a large number of vehicles aren't necessarily assembled there, the 290 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:10,200 Speaker 2: Lordstown factory can actually build components for other parts of 291 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 2: its supply chain, or it could just make components for 292 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 2: a conventional automaker. In fact, one of the stories I 293 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 2: heard there was that while they were getting this factory 294 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 2: refurbished and ready to run again, they got an inquiry 295 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 2: from one of the Big three I believe, to make 296 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 2: door panels, and Foxcom, being a fairly pragmatic company, I think, 297 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 2: took the proposal seriously because, well, you know, door panel's 298 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 2: door panel, and if somebody wants to buy them, they'll 299 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 2: make them. 300 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: Are they actually starting to hire people for the future. 301 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: How many people will work this plant once it's at 302 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: full capacity. 303 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 2: So at the moment, the factory in Lordstown has about 304 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,360 Speaker 2: four hundred people. That's probably more than they need. At 305 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 2: the moment, I think when the factory was at full 306 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 2: capacity and running multiple shifts, there were about sixteen hundred 307 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 2: people there. So that's potentially as large as it might 308 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 2: get at least for a capacity of around you know, 309 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 2: three hundred and fifty thousand vehicles. Beyond that, you know, 310 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,919 Speaker 2: it could actually go into multiple thousands of people. But 311 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,719 Speaker 2: that's just all going to depend on, you know, how 312 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 2: much business they get. 313 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: When we come back. Read pays a visit to Fox 314 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: Khan's CEO. Read, the Lord's Down factory that's under development 315 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: is just one of several manufacturing facilities that Fox Khan 316 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: plans to build for this big EV push. 317 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 3: Is that right? 318 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, So the factory in Lordstown is one that they bought. 319 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 2: It's essentially turn key with a little bit of elbow 320 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 2: grease and work. But in Thailand they're taking an entirely 321 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 2: different approach. They hooked up with a state investment entity 322 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 2: and outside Bangkok they're building an EEV factory from scratch. 323 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 2: The goal there is within a few years to be 324 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 2: able to churn out about one hundred and fifty thousand 325 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 2: evs and then down the road they're looking at potentially 326 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:19,440 Speaker 2: opening an EV facility in India and then ultimately in Europe, 327 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 2: where they also have quite a large manufacturing presence. 328 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: And read when you were reporting this story, you went 329 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: and spoke with fox Con CEO. What did he tell 330 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: you about this big push to steer the company toward evs. 331 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 2: Yeah. So, Young Leu, who joined fox Con in two 332 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 2: thousand and seven, took over from the founder in twenty nineteen. 333 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,919 Speaker 2: He's got I think a monumentally complex job, you know, 334 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 2: managing one point two million employees. He's got to keep 335 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 2: the existing smartphone manufacturing and electronics device business going. And 336 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 2: then the EV project is his project. He initiated it 337 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 2: after taking over, so he's keeping a pretty close eye 338 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 2: on it. To learn a little bit about Fox Con 339 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 2: itself and its corporate culture, you know, I went to 340 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 2: visit its headquarters and spend some time with chairman and 341 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 2: CEO Young Liu in tu Cheng, which is this suburb 342 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,639 Speaker 2: of Taipei. It's full of factories and the building is unassuming. 343 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 2: It's a five story building. As I sort of made 344 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 2: my way around the ground floor, you turn a corner 345 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 2: and you come across a small factory. You know, behind 346 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 2: these sort of soundproof doors, you have stamping machines that 347 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 2: are uncoiling thin copper tape stamping out connectors or components 348 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,359 Speaker 2: for circuit boards. And you know, the factory was there 349 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 2: since day one when it was built, probably forty forty 350 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,880 Speaker 2: plus years ago. I asked people there, you know, why 351 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 2: is there a factory here? Most companies would have moved 352 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 2: it out a long time ago. And you know, all 353 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 2: I got was essentially a verbal shrug. They were like, well, 354 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 2: it's there, because it's always been there. If you think 355 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 2: of the culture of this company, it costs money to 356 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 2: move a factory, and you don't get the components. While 357 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 2: the factory is being moved, you lose efficiency at least 358 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 2: for a while, so there's no reason to get rid 359 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 2: of the factory. So there it stays. The interesting thing 360 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 2: was it was kind of across the hall from the cafeteria, 361 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 2: so as you're kind of walking through that floor at lunchtime, 362 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 2: you get sort of the smell of braised pork belly 363 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,919 Speaker 2: and Taiwanese food mixed in with like lubricating oil for 364 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 2: the snapping machines. So spending time with the CEO, Young Leu, 365 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 2: I saw him sit in in a couple meetings, and 366 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 2: it was really interesting because he wasn't working in an office. 367 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 2: What he was working out of was a conference room, 368 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 2: a huge desk with a huge screen in front. But 369 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 2: what he had kind of a raid around him were 370 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 2: products from his most important customer, Apple, So there was 371 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 2: a MacBook, two iPads, he had an Apple Watch on 372 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 2: his wrist, and he had an iPhone on his hand, 373 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 2: and you know, he's sort of using all of these 374 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 2: devices as he's in the call. Every now and then 375 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 2: he would sort of tap an unmute button on his 376 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 2: iPad and talk to a couple of secretaries and assistants 377 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 2: that were on the call, essentially giving them items to 378 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 2: follow up on or things to look up or things 379 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 2: to take care of while he was in the call. 380 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 2: And so I got the impression that, you know, he 381 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 2: really doesn't sort of waste a lot of time typing 382 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,680 Speaker 2: out emails. What he was doing was sort of absorbing 383 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 2: information and then acting on it in real time. That's 384 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 2: probably what his entire day is like. What he told 385 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 2: me was that he only really starts typing messages when 386 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 2: he gets home. 387 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: And what did he have to say about box CON's future? 388 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: Where does he want to take this company? 389 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 2: So the strategy that young Leu came up with is 390 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 2: what he calls three plus three and EV's robotics and 391 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 2: digital health devices make up the first three, and then 392 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 2: the technologogy behind the second three is going to be semiconductors, telecommunications, 393 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 2: and artificial intelligence. And so what he's really trying to 394 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 2: do is break into three kind of naiscent markets and 395 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 2: develop the technology to do so. 396 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 4: The methodology is to divide and conquer. We divide EV 397 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:24,959 Speaker 4: into different subsystems, and then for the ones that we 398 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 4: are familiar with, then we move on to that quickly. 399 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,919 Speaker 4: But for the ones that we were not familiar with, 400 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:37,800 Speaker 4: you know, we either go invest or go acquire from 401 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:38,919 Speaker 4: the outside. 402 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 2: It's not just going to be about offering to assemble 403 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 2: all of these gadgets for other entities. What he also 404 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,239 Speaker 2: wants to do is become the supplier and build all 405 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,160 Speaker 2: the components that are going to be necessary to essentially 406 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 2: capture market share in these three large markets. 407 00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: And read there's been a lot of speculation that Fosky, 408 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: which makes Apple devices, now moving into electric vehicles might 409 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: mean that Apple's long rumored push to make an electric 410 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:12,719 Speaker 1: vehicle will be a fox cont venture. 411 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 2: Yeah. So the sort of unspoken subtext to all of 412 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 2: this is that Apple has been working on a car, 413 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 2: a project that isn't so much of a secret anymore, 414 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 2: for the better part of a decade. They're still working 415 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 2: on it, but the timeframe is not clear. Our best 416 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 2: guess at the moment, based on reporting by Bloomberg News, 417 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 2: is that an Apple car could debut by the end 418 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 2: of the decade. And so another way to look at 419 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 2: all of fox CON's efforts here is that it's sort 420 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 2: of ramping up expertise and volume and facilities. Should the 421 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 2: day come when Apple goes looking for a manufacturing partner 422 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 2: for evs, that fox Con will be ready because it 423 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 2: has the long history with the company and it has 424 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 2: built up the capacity to deliver the evs that Apple's 425 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 2: going to want to design and sell. 426 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 3: And what did Foxon say about that? Did you ask 427 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 3: them fox Con? It's hard to get them to talk 428 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 3: about any of their customers, but especially hard to get 429 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 3: them to talk about Apple. They are arguably Apple's most 430 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 3: important partner, and Apple is arguably their most important customer. 431 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 3: It's a relationship that they don't want to damage, and 432 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,120 Speaker 3: so any conversation about any upcoming Apple product, whether it's 433 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 3: an iPhone or an Apple Watch or an ev it's 434 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 3: going to be a very short conversation read. 435 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for taking us inside fox Con. 436 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 2: Thank you, it was a lot of fun to report. 437 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,200 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to us here at the Big Take. 438 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: It's a daily podcast from Bloomberg and iHeartRadio. For more 439 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: shows from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 440 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 1: wherever you listen, and we'd love to hear from you. 441 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,360 Speaker 1: Email us questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg 442 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: dot Net. The supervising producer of The Big Take is 443 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: Vicky Urgalina. Our senior producer is Katherine Fink. Our producers 444 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: are Michael Falero and Moe Barrow. Raphael Mcilia as our engineer. 445 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: Our original music was composed by Leo Sidrin. I'm west Ksova. 446 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow with another Big Take