BANGKOK (AP) — Auto industry newcomers like Taiwan-based iPhone maker Foxconn and China’s Huawei Technologies Co. are jockeying for an advantage in the electric vehicle sector, prompting automakers like Japan’s Nissan and Honda to announce plans to join forces against… A flood of ambitious competitors. .
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is carving out links in the automotive supply chain and is one of a growing number of technology companies leveraging its know-how in electronics and communications.
Foxconn Automotive’s venture with Taiwanese automaker and importer Yulon Motor, Foxtron, showcased the Model B, a stylish electric hatchback, as well as automotive electronics, at the show. Consumer Electronics Show In Las Vegas last week.
Honda and Nissan It announced in December that it planned to seek a merger, a move that reports said may have been prompted in part by Foxconn’s interest in Nissan.
Here’s an update on Foxconn’s automotive ambitions.
From iPhones to electric cars
Whether Foxconn wants to make a bid for Nissan or not, it has big ambitions, saying it eventually intends to manufacture four out of every 10 electric cars sold in the world. The contract manufacturer has invested nearly $1.3 billion in auto-related acquisitions in the past decade, according to Mergermarket, a mergers and acquisitions research firm.
In addition to Foxtron, its automaker joint venture with Taiwan’s Yulon Motor Company, it has a 50% joint venture with Yulon Motor Company. Stellantis Nevada To design and sell automotive semiconductors and a 50% joint venture with a German company ZF Friedrichshafen AG, A major automotive supplier, manufacturing passenger car bodies. Have invested in Indigo Technologies, which markets a road sensing system developed at MIT. It also has a cooperation agreement with Blue Solutions to develop solid-state batteries and has a collaboration with Italian car designer Pininfarina.
Foxconn owns a 34% stake in Japanese electronics company Sharp, which is moving into the automotive sector. This year, Foxconn and Sharp introduced the LDK+ (Live, Dining and Kitchen), a boxy minivan that converts into a living space equipped with a solar battery, battery storage and a large LCD screen.
“By leveraging a plug-and-play strategy similar to its electronics operations, Foxconn’s entry into electric vehicles is a proactive move in anticipation of the growing convergence between electronics and automotive technologies,” Vivian Wong, head of M&A analytics at Mergermarkets, told Mergermarkets. Asia Pacific, in an emailed comment.
Other new technology companies have turned into car manufacturers
China Huawei Technologies, smartphones and hardware maker Xiaomi And e-commerce giant Alibaba Baidu It is also expanding its electric vehicle operations, drawing on its scale and strength in advanced technologies as vehicles become ever more computerized.
Huawei has several electric vehicle joint ventures in what it calls the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, including Luxeed-branded electric vehicles with Chery Automobiles and Aito-branded electric vehicles with Seres Group. Its joint venture with JAC Motor, an automaker based in eastern China’s Anhui province, announced plans to compete with luxury brands such as Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz AG.
Some Japanese electronics companies are also joining this wave. Aside from Sharp’s partnership with Foxconn, entertainment and technology giant Sony Corp has an electric vehicle joint venture with Honda that plans to introduce the electric vehicle. Eve Avila The sedan is on pre-sale this year.
Increasing reliance on connectivity between cars, phones, laptops and televisions has drawn these companies into a market rapidly transformed by electricity, even if access to some markets is hampered by tariffs and other factors.
What about Nissan?
Nissan provided The paper, The first large-scale electric vehicle to go to market, in 2010 it has strong EV technology, vehicle platforms and sales power that would attract a new entrant like Foxconn.
Japanese media and Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai’s chief strategy officer, Jun Seki, a veteran Nissan executive, visited France for talks with France’s Renault, which has a 15% stake in Nissan and more shares held in a French investment fund. . Seki is the former chief operating officer of Nissan and former president of Dongfeng Nissan, a joint venture in China.
In officially announcing plans to try to merge with Honda, Nissan Motor CEO Makoto Uchida said that Foxconn had not reached out directly to his company about a potential merger. Foxconn did not respond to requests for comment.
Nissan’s internal problems represent a small part of the larger challenge facing all major automakers due to its rise tesla, It manufactures more than half of its electric cars in China, which is something that Chinese automakers like BYD In an industry so competitive that more than a dozen Chinese electric car makers have already pulled out, being outdone by bigger, stronger companies that got into the game before them.
So far, the road has not been smooth
With the slowing pace of sales growth, with Questioning car buyers Given the affordability and convenience of going electric, it’s been a tough sell, and Foxconn has a long way to go before it can compete with industry leaders like BYD and Tesla.
It is prepared for manufacturing Endurance Battery Powered EV Truck In a former General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio, which it acquired in 2023. Lordstown Motors Company Then I filed for bankruptcy. Foxconn also formed a partnership in 2021 with Fisker Inc., maker of the Ocean EV truck, which called for up to 250,000 vehicles to be built. Fisker filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection In June.
But the company seems brave.
Foxconn lists six models of Electric vehicles on its website, including the Model T bus, Model V minivan, Moden N truck, Model B, and the “luxury flagship” Model E sedan.
