volkswagen seems to be seeking outside help in the revival of Reconnaissance brand for all-electric pickup trucks and SUVs aimed at the US market.
Source said car The German carmaker is in talks with Foxconn – the most famous contract manufacturer for Apple’s iPhone production – over the production of reconnaissance range.
The German trade publication believes Volkswagen is also in discussions with Magna-Steyr, the manufacturing company Fisker Ocean and Jaguar I-Pace Electric vehicles at the factory in Graz, Austria.
If Volkswagen decides to partner with Foxconn, it will benefit from the Scout production in the US. Under the provisions of the infrastructure bill just passed by the Biden administration, American-made electric vehicles with enough local components can be sold with federal tax credits that reduce the purchase price by up to US$7500 (US$11,500).
The automaker has neither confirmed nor denied the accuracy of the report.
A Volkswagen spokesman said: “We are very pleased with the progress the Scout team is making and with the enthusiasm it has generated among current fans and future customers. car.
Volkswagen has owned scout name in 2021 when its Traton truck division acquires Navistar, the parent company of International Harvester, which built Jeep-style SUVs and SUVs between 1961 and 1980.
Foxconn currently owns and operates an automobile factory in Lordstown, Ohio.
It started as a GM factory, producing several of the company’s smaller models, including the Chevrolet Cavalier, Cobalt, and eventually the Cruze. It was sold in 2019 to EV auto start-up Lordstown Motors, with GM lending Lordstown about US$40 million (US$62 million) to finance the purchase.
After Lordstown ran into financial difficulties, it sold the facility to Foxconn in 2021 for $230 million ($360 million). Foxconn began production of the Lordstown’s Endurance EV pickup truck in September this year.
The first member of the Scout series, an electric ute, is expected to be included manufactured in 2026. It won’t build on the existing MEB architecture that underpins things like Volkswagen ID.3, ID. 4 and ID. Buzz, as well as Cupra Born, Audi Q4 e-tron and Skoda Enyaq.
The Scout ute and SUV will be based on the “new engineering platform concept” of the R-SUV, but Volkswagen has yet to provide further details on the architecture.
It is unclear whether the negotiations between Volkswagen and Foxconn will extend to the area of platform sharing.
The Taiwanese company has revealed its intention to expand its contract manufacturing business to cars in 2020 as it previews a modular EV architecture that can be used by new brands and now available.
Since then, it has launched Foxtron brandwith the first model, the Model C crossover, going on sale in Taiwan from the second half of 2023. This is followed by the smaller Model B crossover and the larger Model V pickup.
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