Foxconn confirms interest in Nissan partnership

Foxconn is specifically looking into buying the Nissan shares that Renault wants to sell. According to Foxconn CEO Young Liu, however, that is only one of the options currently being discussed. “Our aim is cooperation,” he added. The option would be considered if a partnership is only possible by joining Nissan.

These statements are the first time Foxconn has publicly confirmed its interest in acquiring a stake in Nissan. Last week, it was already rumoured that Nissan management was looking for a new partner following the failed merger talks with Honda – Foxconn had already been mentioned as a possible candidate.

As the Financial Times wrote last week, some Nissan board members are said to be “open to considering a partnership with Taiwanese iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn.” Jun Seki, head of strategy at Foxconn’s electric vehicle division, was a top manager at Nissan until the end of 2019. He is now said to want to take advantage of the situation at his former employer.

Nissan is currently often referred to as a restructuring case. Over the years, the Japanese company’s sales have fallen to just over three million vehicles, which is apparently almost too small in the mass market to operate profitably with its own technologies and platforms. The 25-year alliance with Renault, on the other hand, is considered a de facto failure. Although Renault is an important shareholder in Nissan with a 36 per cent stake, the French company wants to sell these shares to finance its own investments in electric mobility and software-defined vehicles.

Foxconn, on the other hand, is increasingly moving from contract manufacturing in the consumer electronics sector – the company has become known as the producer of iPhones – into electric car production. The Taiwanese company has developed its own EV platform and introduced its own car brand, Foxtron. Nissan, on the other hand, can no longer count on the vehicle platforms from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in the long term – Foxconn could step in here for electric cars.

Foxconn already saw this opportunity last year and approached Nissan – but was rebuffed at the time. According to the FT report, the Foxconn offer was also the trigger for the “frantic but fleeting round of merger negotiations with Honda” in December.

reuters.com (paywall)