Foxconn wants to work with Nissan on EVs, strategy chief tells Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Foxconn wants to cooperate with Nissan but is currently not engaging with the Japanese automaker, an executive in charge of the Taiwan company’s electric vehicle business told the Nikkei newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday.

 

Foxconn Chief Strategy Officer for EVs Jun Seki made the remarks ahead of a seminar in Tokyo on Wednesday where the contract manufacturer aims to lay out its EV strategy to Japanese companies.

 

"From our perspective, the compatibility with Japanese automakers, especially Nissan, will become a strength" for Foxconn, Nikkei cited Seki, a former senior Nissan executive, as saying. 

 

Seki also said it was a great idea for Foxconn to be part of a potential broader partnership with Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors and confirmed that Foxconn was finalising a deal with Mitsubishi to supply it with EVs.

 

Sources had previously told Reuters that Nissan’s junior partner Mitsubishi plans to outsource the production of EVs for Oceania markets to Foxconn, which also makes iPhones for Apple and artificial intelligence servers for Nvidia.

 

In February, Nikkei reported that Foxconn had proposed partnering with Honda with an ultimate aim of creating a four-way framework that would also include Nissan and Mitsubishi after Honda-Nissan merger talks collapsed. 

 

Foxconn has previously said it would consider taking a stake in Nissan, but that its main aim was cooperation.

 

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and David Dolan; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Jamie Freed)