Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn, signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Zimeno Inc DBA Monarch Tractor to build next-generation agricultural equipment and battery packs at the plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
Foxconn this year finalized the acquisition of the factory from EV startup Lordstown Motors, which in turn had bought the facility from General Motors in late 2019.
The Taiwanese company will start full-rate production of Monarch Tractor's all-electric, self-driving MK-V Series tractor in the first quarter of 2023 at the Foxconn Ohio facility, which has approximately 6.2 million square feet (576,000 square meters) of scalable production space.
This will follow production of Monarch's Founder Series in Q4 2022 at Monarch Tractor's Livermore, California, manufacturing facility.
"Creating the industry's most advanced tractor demands a manufacturing partner with the experience to quickly scale and execute with precision. Foxconn is an EMS leader whose manufacturing and solutions are world-renowned. We are proud to partner with Foxconn and work together to transform the future of farming."
Praveen Penmetsa, Co-Founder & CEO of Monarch Tractor
Young Liu, the chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group, said the partnership reflects "Foxconn's growing center of gravity for autonomous electric vehicle production and the potential that can emerge from forward-thinking collaborations."
The Monarch MK-V electric tractor can be driven either by a human operator or autonomously. Its electric powertrain offers 40 horsepower of continuous power or 70 horsepower of peak power. It offers a run time of over 10 hours on a full battery charge while requiring a charging time of 4-5 hours with an 80A charger.
The agreement with Monarch Tractor is the first contract manufacturing engagement by Foxconn following the closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) with Lordstown Motors in May 2022.
As part of the deal between Foxconn and Lordstown Motors, the Taiwanese company will also build the Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck at the Ohio plant, with the latest estimate for the start of production being the third quarter of this year.
Foxconn also has a contract manufacturing deal with EV startup Fisker Inc to build the PEAR entry-level EV from 2024 at the Lordstown plant.
