Will Partner With Nissan, Foxconn Also Holds Talks With Renault

JAKARTA - Not long ago, Nissan plans to cancel the merger agreement with Honda which has been under consideration since late last year. Nissan is rumored to have the opportunity to partner with another company from Taiwan, namely Foxconn.

Amid the news, the tech company also reportedly started talks with Renault Group over the sale of Nissan Motor's shares which were previously discussed in the middle of last year.

Launching the Financial Times, Wednesday, February 12, Renault now holds a 36 percent stake in Nissan and has maintained the alliance since 1999. However, this French manufacturer wants to release 18.7 percent of the amount.

Nissan's lack of partnership also had an impact on Renault. Now, the company with the variant' logo added that it was reviewing various possibilities in the talks.

Previously, Foxconn was on the radar as a company that would become a new partner for Nissan after the merger talks with Honda were almost certainly canceled.

This step is an effort to anticipate the acceleration of technology carried by software-driven electric vehicles, and the soaring development of new Chinese manufacturers.

The move is also in line with Foxconn wanting to expand its nascent electric vehicle contract manufacturing business. Previously, the company had approached Nissan regarding cooperation last December but was rejected.

Foxconn is now also running an electric vehicle business led by former senior Nissan executive Jun Seki. He was once seen as a competitor to become CEO of the well-known automotive manufacturer before Nissan appointed Makoto Uchida.

Nissan slowly withdrew in discussions of the merger with Honda after another partner, Mitsubishi, reportedly did not participate in the plan.

This news is certainly quite surprising considering that Nissan is Mitsubishi's largest shareholder of 24 percent. The final decision on this matter is planned to be announced this month.

It was stated that the reason Mitsubishi was reluctant to join this partnership was due to concerns that it would be difficult to influence the parent company's management decisions. This happens because the size of the share ownership is relatively small.