Poland picks Taiwan’s Foxconn as partner for electric vehicle manufacturing hub

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland has selected Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn as a strategic partner for a long-delayed project to develop a hub for producing homegrown electric vehicles (EVs).

ElectroMobility Poland (EMP), the state-owned company leading the project, said Foxconn was chosen for its willingness to transfer technology, support the development of local expertise in EV design and engineering at a Polish research and development centre, and engage domestic suppliers.

Cooperation may take the form of a joint venture, with an agreement expected to be finalised in the second half of the year, the state assets ministry said.

This is the latest attempt to advance a project that has faced repeated delays and previously involved several failed partnerships since being launched by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government in 2020.

The plans envisage developing a portfolio of electric vehicles, initially comprising three models, under a local brand and introducing them to the European market, while building technological and operational capabilities in Poland.

The project includes a planned production plant in Jaworzno in southern Poland and a new research and development centre supporting software, data analytics and digital mobility solutions.

The initiative will be complemented by an investment mechanism supporting the broader mobility ecosystem, with a focus on Poland’s battery sector, already the largest in Europe.

The project will be partly funded through around 4.5 billion zloty (€1.1 billion) from EU post-pandemic recovery funds. But EMP notes that the new partner is also expected to contribute capital to the joint venture.

Foxconn is one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, producing for brands including Apple, Samsung and Microsoft, and operating in more than 20 countries with around 900,000 employees. EMP notes that the Taiwanese firm has in recent years been rapidly expanding its involvement in the EV sector.

Jan Wiśniewski, director of the research and analysis centre at the New Mobility Association (PSNM), an industry body, said the choice of Foxconn was a sensible one, pointing to the company’s global scale, “impressive portfolio” and technological capabilities.

He noted that the group accounts for more than 40% of global consumer electronics production, adding that its growing focus on artificial intelligence and electromobility strengthened its credentials as a partner.

Plans to create Poland’s first electric car brand, initially named Izera, were first outlined under the former PiS government in 2020. Two years later, Chinese company Geely was chosen to supply a vehicle platform.

However, the partnership stalled after delays in securing funding, reports Business Insider Polska. Potential cooperation with another potential Chinese partner, Chery, also failed to materialise.

In 2023, a report by Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (NIK) found that, despite hundreds of millions of zloty in public funds being spent on the project, progress had reached only 4% of planned targets.

The current coalition government, which replaced PiS in office in late 2023, claims the project has now been put on a more viable footing.

State assets minister Wojciech Balczun said the revised plan replaced earlier concepts that lacked financial and technological foundations with a concrete investment project backed by a foreign partner.

“This cooperation is not intended to be a one-off project, as is often the case with traditional foreign investments. Our strategic goal is to rapidly develop the automotive sector in Poland,” said his deputy minister, Eliza Zeidler.

Poland has one of the lowest levels of electric car uptake in the European Union. However, a government subsidy scheme introduced last year boosted registrations, bringing the total number of fully electric vehicles to more than 120,000 by the end of 2025, according to PSNM.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: WORT News/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 2.0)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.