Latest news with #JunSeki
Miami Herald
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Nissan May Consider Deal With Foxconn to Save Japanese Car Plant
According to new reports published by Nikkei and Reuters, Taiwanese electric vehicle upstart and electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.) is said to be in talks with Japanese automaker Nissan to build EVs in an arrangement that could potentially save one of the Yokohama-based automaker's factories from closure. Sources familiar with the matter told the newswire and the Japanese business publication that these discussions revolve around Foxconn producing electric vehicles at Nissan's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, a plant that employs around 3,900 people and a facility that is seen as a primary target for shutdown under Nissan CEO's ambitious Re:Nissan restructuring plan. According to Nikkei, the partnership would be part of a bigger EV collaboration and possibly incorporate a joint venture between the Taiwanese and Japanese firms. If successful, Nissan's Oppama plant would be spared from closure, as its excess capacity would be turned over to Foxconn. One source who spoke with Nikkei said that Nissan is currently talking with multiple partners, including Foxconn, on various ways they could accelerate the automaker's ambitious restructuring plan aimed at "right-sizing" the company. In a statement seen by Reuters, Nissan said the Nikkei report was not based on information released by the automaker. The reports involving Foxconn come nearly two months after reports of the potential closure of the Oppama plant surfaced in May, triggering a sizable response from local government officials. Opened in 1961, the Oppama plant holds some historical weight for the Yokohama-based automaker. It was the first Nissan plant to mass produce electric vehicles, and is also a popular tourist attraction in the area. According to the automaker, it has an annual production capacity of around 240,000 vehicles and employs 3,900 people in manufacturing and research roles. However, MarkLines data shows that the plant's utilization rate has been low due to the automaker's sluggish sales. Last year, it was just 40%, which is far below its break-even point of 80%. Despite this, a potential shutdown of the Oppama plant would devastate Nissan and the area. Many of Nissan's important parts suppliers are located near the plant, which is also a key research and development facility for Nissan. Within its 170 hectares, Oppama is home to a research center, testing facilities, and a wharf for car carriers. Losing the plant would force Nissan to build new test courses and facilities elsewhere, which could additionally burden the company's tight books. Though a potential Foxconn deal could help Nissan offload unused capacity and save jobs, and preserve its contracted supplier network, such a deal could help the iPhone and Xbox manufacturer become a legitimate contract producer of electric vehicles. Jun Seki, a former Nissan executive and Foxconn's EV chief strategy officer, has been eying partnerships with established automotive brands, although it aims to sell its own EVs in the U.S. Previously, Seki said that the company plans to start delivering the Model C SUV to a North American customer by the end of 2025. Back in May, Foxconn secured a deal to make EVs when it signed an agreement to supply Mitsubishi with a new product starting next year. The vehicle in question is expected to be a compact crossover and will be made in Taiwan for export to Australia and New Zealand. The talks come as Espinosa's Re:Nissan restructuring plans call for reducing worldwide car production capacity from 5 million cars to around 2.5 million cars, with some allowance to increase to 3 million with overtime and even as high as 4 million with products from partner companies. Although Nissan is a global company, the data shows that the largest chunk of its sales is to customers in the U.S. According to a publicly available document on Nissan's global website, 76,977 Nissan and Infiniti brand vehicles were sold in the U.S. in May 2025, while it moved just 27,736 cars in Japan. As I have said before, Nissan's C-Suite has more than just a bloated production capacity when it comes to saving itself. In its largest market, the Trump Administration is keen on cementing its tariff-heavy trade policies with those who do not want to play ball. For now, we can only hope that things will go well for the Japanese automaker and that a U.S.-Japan trade agreement can surface during the ongoing discussions. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
New Straits Times
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Mitsubishi Motors signs MoU to outsource EV model development to Foxconn unit
TOKYO: Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors and Foxconn subsidiary Foxtron Vehicle Technologies have signed a memorandum of understanding for the supply of an electric vehicle (EV) model, the companies said on Wednesday. The EV model will be developed by Foxtron, manufactured in Taiwan by automaker Yulon and introduced in the Oceania region in the second half of 2026, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement. "Mitsubishi Motors and Foxtron will proceed with discussions towards a definitive agreement," Mitsubishi Motors said. The company will announce full-year financial results on Thursday. Foxconn views Japan as a major opportunity for growing its EV business and has sought to strike partnerships with Japanese companies, Jun Seki, the Taiwan contract manufacturer's chief strategy officer for EVs, said at a Tokyo seminar in April. The Apple supplier's interest in working with Japanese car makers comes as they face growing competition from Chinese brands that are aggressively making inroads in markets such as Europe, Brazil and Thailand. At last month's seminar, Seki had already confirmed that Foxconn was working with Mitsubishi but did not provide further details. Mitsubishi Motors is a junior partner in the long-standing alliance of Nissan Motor and French automaker Renault. Foxconn has previously said it would consider taking a stake in Nissan for cooperation, as it has ambitions to diversify into EVs. Foxtron, the company's EV joint venture with Yulon, counts Yulon-owned Luxgen as its main client in Taiwan. In February, Nissan and rival Japanese automaker Honda Motor broke off merger talks to forge a US$60.00 billion car company. The deal fell apart due to Honda's proposal to make Nissan a subsidiary, sources have said.
Business Times
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Times
Mitsubishi Motors signs MOU to outsource EV model development to Foxconn unit
[TOKYO] Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors and Foxconn subsidiary Foxtron Vehicle Technologies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the supply of an electric vehicle (EV) model, the companies said on Wednesday (May 7). The EV model will be developed by Foxtron, manufactured in Taiwan by automaker Yulon and introduced in the Oceania region in the second half of 2026, Mitsubishi Motors said. 'Mitsubishi Motors and Foxtron will proceed with discussions towards a definitive agreement,' Mitsubishi Motors said. The company will announce full-year financial results on Thursday. Foxconn views Japan as a major opportunity for growing its EV business and has sought to strike partnerships with Japanese companies, Jun Seki, the Taiwan contract manufacturer's chief strategy officer for EVs, said at a Tokyo seminar in April. The Apple supplier's interest in working with Japanese car makers comes as they face growing competition from Chinese brands that are aggressively making inroads in markets such as Europe, Brazil and Thailand. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up At last month's seminar, Seki had already confirmed that Foxconn was working with Mitsubishi but did not provide further details. Mitsubishi Motors is a junior partner in the long-standing alliance of Nissan Motor and French automaker Renault. Foxconn has previously said it would consider taking a stake in Nissan for cooperation, as it has ambitions to diversify into EVs. Foxtron, the company's EV joint venture with Yulon, counts Yulon-owned Luxgen as its main client in Taiwan. In February, Nissan and rival Japanese automaker Honda Motor broke off merger talks to forge a US$60 billion car company. The deal fell apart due to Honda's proposal to make Nissan a subsidiary, sources have said. REUTERS
Japan Times
10-04-2025
- Automotive
- Japan Times
It makes iPhones. Now Hon Hai wants to make cars for Japanese automakers.
A Taiwan mobile phone manufacturer wants to produce electric vehicles for Japanese car companies, a seemingly unlikely proposition given the structure and history of Japan's auto industry. And it just might work for Hon Hai Precision Industry. EVs are different — they don't have engines, so it's much easier to manufacture them, allowing players not normally a part of the process to get a significant piece of the action. "It's not necessarily the case where only carmakers can manufacture EVs. Thus, I think a trend to outsource production to electronics manufacturing services companies that have a certain scale and can cut costs is possible," said Taiji Goishihara, a partner at Deloitte Tohmatsu. Japanese auto manufacturing has long relied on companies running their own plants and maintaining tight control over the process. Craftsmanship based on close coordination between carmakers and suppliers, especially with regard to engine-related systems, has also been considered essential. The industry is vital to Japan in terms of jobs, exports and contribution to gross domestic product, so its heft and scale is important for the country. Hon Hai — which does business as Foxconn and manufactures iPhones for Apple — is hoping to shake up that model a bit. The New Taipei City-headquartered company wants to build EVs for Japanese car makers on a contract basis as the economics of carmaking change and new opportunities present themselves. Some analysts said smaller carmakers and those struggling to raise funding to invest in EV production may find that it makes sense to rely on third-party manufacturers, although large automakers will likely stick to their tried-and-tested vertical integration manufacturing model. 'If you ask us whether Japan is special, we think Japan is special,' Jun Seki, chief strategy officer of Foxconn's EV business, said Wednesday at an event in Tokyo hosted by Hon Hai to explain its EV strategy in the country. He pointed out that the Taiwanese company and Japanese companies may be able to achieve synergies due to them being close geographically and culturally. Foxconn is already working with Mitsubishi Motors, according to Seki, a former Nissan executive. He declined to offer details about the partnership. Last month, some media reported that Foxconn will be producing EVs for Mitsubishi Motors for Oceania markets. For relatively small carmakers, including Mitsubishi Motors, outsourcing EV production may be a realistic decision, said Nobuhiro Shibata, a director at Deloitte Tohmatsu. "Benefits of outsourcing include hedging against risks related to in-house production, as EV demand is still volatile,' he noted. Also, smaller carmakers tend to focus on niche products to differentiate themselves from rivals, so if they want to pursue such a strategy, investing in research and development would be more of a priority rather than production, Shibata added. It is possible that even some of the larger carmakers will consider outsourcing production for certain regions, as producing vehicles locally is becoming key due to the escalating trade war driven by the U.S.' tariff policy, Goishihara said. He is skeptical as to whether outsourcing will be a mainstream production trend in Japan's auto industry in the near future. If the horizontal division of labor — where battery companies produce batteries and contract manufacturers handle assembly — accelerates, traditional carmakers would just become brand management companies, Goishihara noted. 'Therefore, I think they won't easily give it up,' he said. Two large EV companies — the U.S.' Tesla and China's BYD — have proven that their vertical integration manufacturing models work so far. A change in the production structure might trigger some issues for major Japanese automakers, including those related to employment. Toyota has repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining annual domestic production of 3 million vehicles to protect its head count. Seki admitted that the auto industry is 'cautious' about Foxconn's move, so the Taiwanese maker is trying to win its trust. He said Foxconn does not intend to sell cars directly to consumers to compete with traditional carmakers. Its focus is only on the business-to-business segment. 'If we sell cars with our own brand to consumers, they will never trust us,' Seki said, referring to prospective automaker clients.
Japan Times
09-04-2025
- Automotive
- Japan Times
Hon Hai makes case to build EVs for Japan's automobile industry
Hon Hai Precision Industry wants Japan's carmakers to know it's willing to assemble electric vehicles (EVs) for them, similar to how it makes PlayStations for Sony Group and iPhones for Apple, and expects to announce partners in the near future. While Foxconn, as the Taiwanese company is also called, is well known as the world's largest contract manufacturer and the owner of Sharp, more work needs to be done to raise its profile as a potential builder of cars, according to Jun Seki, chief strategy officer of the Taiwanese company's EV business. "What we want to have is more awareness in Japan,' Seki said in an interview. "Foxconn is famous as smartphone builders and also for the acquisition of Sharp, but nothing else.' Seki, a former Nissan and Nidec executive, is embarking on a charm offensive as he seeks to attract more carmaking customers willing to outsource their EV manufacturing. Foxconn is betting that many will need to do so in the coming years in order to cope with the huge costs and risks involved in making the transition from fossil fuel-burning vehicles. Although Magna International and other companies, including carmakers themselves, have long offered outsourcing, automobile manufacturers have traditionally assembled their own products even though a high percentage of the parts tend to come from suppliers. That was seen as a key lever for preserving profits and holding on to competitive advantages, which may be difficult to hold on to with the transition to EVs, which have fewer components and faster development cycles. Although Seki declined to name specific partners that are yet to be announced, he said that electrified cars and buses made by Foxconn will appear on roads in Japan and the United States over the next few years. Foxconn has secured an agreement to make EVs for Mitsubishi Motors, it was reported last month. In February, Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu said that the company had approached Nissan and Honda about potential cooperation, as the two were involved in merger talks that eventually were abandoned. "Within one year you can expect several Japanese partners,' Seki said. Despite the flurry of recent activity, Foxconn's EV contract manufacturing is still too small to be reported as its own segment in the company's sales results. That will change over time as more carmakers see the benefits of outsourcing their manufacturing and Foxconn builds capacity in factories across the globe, according to Seki. The Taiwanese manufacturer is building or refurbishing facilities in the U.S., Taiwan and Thailand while also seeking to expand capacity in India and the Middle East. For Japan, Seki said Foxconn would be interested in expanding EV production by using the existing plants of carmakers, some of which may be seeing excess capacity as more automobile production shifts to the U.S. in order to cope with broad tariffs being imposed under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Some discussions are taking place, and building new factories in Japan is also an option, Seki added. But first, Foxconn needs to show that it can build cars for others cheaply and effectively, Seki said. Winning over carmakers that still see manufacturing know-how as the core of their business isn't easy, he acknowledged. "Our company sales size is over $200 billion, but this revenue only comes because of trust from customers,' Seki said. "We receive their highly confidential information but we have had no incidents at all. That's why like Apple, Sony trust us and ask us to build their facility. That's what we want to emphasize.'
