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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.'
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
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.
