Latest news with #Lordstown
Forbes
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Foxconn Sells Ohio Plant And Will Oversee AI Server Production There
There's an interesting wrinkle in international business stateside involving a facility in Lordstown, Ohio, and big changes for production there. Tech media are noting this week that Hon Hai, affiliated with Foxconn, is selling the factory to a company called Crescent Dune LLC, but that this transfer in ownership is a trade in name only. Reports at Bloomberg and elsewhere indicate the plant will be used to make AI servers for clients like Nvidia and Apple. Here's how it's explained in a release at Outlook Business that appears to have been written by AI, and 'curated' by someone named Shashank Bhatt: 'Under the transaction, closed with Crescent Dune LLC, Foxconn transfers ownership of the land and equipment but will continue to operate on site under a long-term occupancy agreement, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings and a company statement.' The sourcing also shows the deal was for $375 million for a plant totaling around 3 million square feet. Foxconn bought the plant as recently as 2022 from Lordstown Motors, which had previously bought it from GM in 2019. So the timeline would be as follows: Reports also show that Foxconn had intended to manufacture the Fisker Pear there prior to Fisker's bankruptcy. Basically, the site had a checkered past involving obstacles to the production of various EV models under multiple brands. Monarch Tractors Case in point: a few years ago, a local news affiliate covered the unveiling of a project where the Lordstown plant would manufacture a model of electric tractor owned by the Monarch brand. Business leaders spoke about the promise of this project, and showed off a prototype. But how many tractors did they build? I did some digging: it turns out that the best numbers only indicate an unknown number of Monarch tractors produced in Lordstown from 5 to 500. Many of us have been warned not to simply use ChatGPT to get such stats, so after reading the model's response, I found the relevant sources. A press release early in the project showed five units built and shipped. The other source is a TechCrunch article from Nov. 2024 that specified 500 tractors had been built. However, that number is shared between the Lordstown facility and a California location. You can see here how modern investigation works: we can only get the numbers that are public, where the best guess is that they build a couple of hundred Monarch tractors at the plant, which is now pivoting to AI server production. The TechCrunch piece further reveals 35 layoffs and quick restructuring, which now makes sense, given there will not be any EVs rolling off the assembly line there anytime soon. Future Plans Going back to the above-quoted article, we have this: 'By offloading real estate and heavy-asset ownership to Crescent Dune, Foxconn can reallocate capital towards faster-growing technology segments while retaining operational control. The transaction also mitigates the financial drag of the underperforming EV project and preserves jobs at the Ohio site, which currently employs several hundred workers.' There's also bigger-picture analysis: 'Foxconn's strategic realignment underscores a broader industry trend: manufacturers shifting from electric-vehicle initiatives, often capital-intensive with uncertain returns, to the more predictable, high-margin business of AI hardware assembly.' As for the AI server business, this makes a lot of sense, given Nvidia's recent breakthrough of the $4 trillion mark in terms of market cap. More predictable returns, indeed. Cases like this show where the market is going and how this impacts geopolitical calculus involving the chip trade. 'One of few good points to arise from the global pandemic is that it has spurred a national push to strengthen the domestic supply chain, especially for essential products,' wrote an editorial team at the Ohio Tribune Chronicle in 2021, specifically citing the Lordstown facility and Foxconn's planned operations. 'Studies show job announcements for reshoring — the process of returning production and manufacturing of goods back to the company's original country — are growing. In fact, the number of companies reporting new reshoring and foreign direct investment in the U.S. are at more than 1,800 this year. According to a report released in September by Reshoring Initiative, a U.S.-based initiative that promotes reshoring and provides tools and support for companies evaluating locations, Ohio ranks No. 1 so far this year in reshoring announcements, with 37 companies totaling 12,423 jobs.' Presumably, many would say the same about this new project. It will still involve production in the U.S. and investment by the Chinese mega-firm: it's just that a third party will technically own the building and the equipment. But this kind of story also shows how hard it can be to break down the facts on a timeline for a particular business location. Keep your eyes peeled as AI continues to impact international trade in a big way.
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
鴻海處分3.75億美元Lordstown廠 轉攻AI資料中心
鴻海4日代子公司發布重訊，處分位於俄亥俄州Lordstown廠房等資產，總金額達3.75億美元。（圖／柳名耕攝） 代工大廠鴻海4日代子公司公告，將處分位在美國俄亥俄州的資產，總值約3.75億美元，廠房總面積達620萬平方英尺，鴻海也證實該處分與東元的策略聯盟有關，將轉型聚焦AI資料中心建置。 鴻海代子公司Foxconn EV System LLC、Foxconn EV Asset Management LLC公告，將處分位在俄亥俄州，原為Lordstown的廠房、土地與機器設備，總金額達3.75億美元，帳面獲利達1.7億美元。 鴻海強調，此次處分不影響Model C在美國的業務，市場原先預期Lordstown廠的產能利用率低檔，加上設備折舊，可能影響鴻海的獲利，此次處分仍保留16萬平方英尺（約4500坪）的廠房，保留下來的面積作為資料中心用地相當足夠。 鴻海在2021年以2300萬美元買下新創Lordstown的廠房及設備，原打算為Lordstown代工純電皮卡，但截至2023年底，僅交付40台Endurance皮卡，扣除召回數量，實際僅交付3台，在其餘的新創電動車品牌先後宣告破產後，Lordstown的產能利用率趨近於零。 更多中時新聞網報導 15％關稅輾壓台灣！韓股突遭血洗…崩快4％ 兇手抓到了 《半導體》昇陽半導體翻紅走高 放量飆逾9％ 高於日韓！台灣吞20％關稅 僅台積、聯發科能活 專家揭「3產業」完蛋了：毛利率吃光光
Reuters
04-08-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Foxconn sells Lordstown car factory for $375 mln
TAIPEI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn ( opens new tab said on Monday it had struck a deal to sell the Lordstown former car factory in Ohio for $375 million, including its machinery, but said it would continue to use the site to make a broader range of products aligned with its strategic priorities. Foxconn, which makes data center products for Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and assembles iPhones for Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, did not elaborate on products to be manufactured at the plant, but said the cloud and networking product business in particularly showed "significant growth". A source with direct knowledge of the matter said the Ohio site would support artificial intelligence data centers, without specifying details. Foxconn purchased the plant, a former General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab small-car factory named after the town in Ohio where it is based, in 2022 from now-bankrupt U.S. electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp for $230 million, as part of its efforts to expand into EVs. Foxconn also invested in Lordstown and the companies started making electric pickup trucks there. But the partnership later soured, with Lordstown going out of business and suing Foxconn. Foxconn said on Monday it sold the factory to an "existing business partner", without giving details. It also said the company remained committed to automotive customers in the U.S. and said it would be able to rapidly ramp up automotive production to meet customer demand when required. Foxconn has expanded beyond its traditional role as an iPhone assembler. Last week it formed a strategic partnership with industrial motor maker TECO Electric & Machinery ( opens new tab to build data centres.
CNA
04-08-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Foxconn sells Lordstown car factory for $375 million
TAIPEI :Taiwan's Foxconn said on Monday it had struck a deal to sell the Lordstown former car factory in Ohio for $375 million, including its machinery, but said it would continue to use the site to make a broader range of products aligned with its strategic priorities. Foxconn, which makes data center products for Nvidia and assembles iPhones for Apple, did not elaborate on products to be manufactured at the plant, but said the cloud and networking product business in particularly showed "significant growth". A source with direct knowledge of the matter said the Ohio site would support artificial intelligence data centers, without specifying details. Foxconn purchased the plant, a former General Motors small-car factory named after the town in Ohio where it is based, in 2022 from now-bankrupt U.S. electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp for $230 million, as part of its efforts to expand into EVs. Foxconn also invested in Lordstown and the companies started making electric pickup trucks there. But the partnership later soured, with Lordstown going out of business and suing Foxconn. Foxconn said on Monday it sold the factory to an "existing business partner", without giving details. It also said the company remained committed to automotive customers in the U.S. and said it would be able to rapidly ramp up automotive production to meet customer demand when required. Foxconn has expanded beyond its traditional role as an iPhone assembler. Last week it formed a strategic partnership with industrial motor maker TECO Electric & Machinery to build data centres.
CNA
04-08-2025
- Business
- CNA
Foxconn sells Lordstown facility for $88 million, to continue to occupy premises
TAIPEI :Foxconn said on Monday it had struck a deal to sell the former Lordstown factory in Ohio for $88 million, saying it planned to reinvest the proceeds in the United States and would continue to occupy the facility. The Taiwanese company said in regulatory filings it had sold the Lordstown premises to a company called Crescent Dune LLC. In a separate statement, it described the buyer as an "existing business partner". Foxconn purchased the plant in 2022 from now-bankrupt U.S. electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors Corp for $230 million.
