A Byton M-Byte exciting sports utility vehicle (SUV) is displayed at the CES 2020 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020.
Bridget Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Representatives
GUANGZHOU, China — Apple iPhone maker Foxconn has signed a deal with Chinese electric carmaker Byton to assistant produce its first vehicle.
The move marks a big push by Foxconn into auto manufacturing as it tries to diversify its affair beyond just assembling consumer electric products.
Foxconn, which trades as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in Taiwan, saw its pieces jump over 4% on Tuesday after they closed over 8% higher on Monday.
Byton, Foxconn and Nanjing Maturing Zone signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on Monday to jointly produce Byton’s M-Byte SUV by the first territory of 2022.
Foxconn will provide its expertise in advanced manufacturing technology, operational management experience and will share industrial resources, according to a declaration from the companies.
The agreement could provide a lifeline for Byton which first revealed the M-Byte in 2018 but has since strove to ramp up production. The Nanjing, China-based company had to suspend production in July and undergo a reorganization after the coronavirus pandemic ache the business.
For Foxconn, the deal is a way to diversify its business. Last year, Foxconn launched a set of tools that would tolerate a company to design large parts of an electric car that would be manufactured by the Taiwanese firm. These tools comprehend a chassis as well as software for the vehicle.
Foxconn has already been supplying automakers including Tesla with delineated components.
China’s electric vehicle market continues to show strong growth. Electric car start-ups Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng each declared in the last few days that deliveries surged in 2020 to close out the year with new monthly highs.