According to Reuters, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Nissan Motor is open to collaborating with new partners after merger negotiations with Honda Motor fell through. One of the most notable potential partners is Foxconn.
Foxconn, the world’s leading electronics manufacturing services provider, is headquartered in Taiwan and is best known for assembling products for major global tech companies, including Apple. In recent years, Foxconn has aggressively expanded into new industries such as electric vehicles (EVs) and semiconductors. The company launched its own EV brand, Foxtron, and has partnered with several automakers to drive innovation in smart manufacturing and electrification.
By late 2024, reports surfaced that Hon Hai Group, Foxconn’s parent company, was attempting to acquire a controlling stake in Nissan. Hon Hai’s ambitions went beyond acquiring Nissan’s factories and equipment—it aimed to take over the entire business, including models like the Pathfinder, Sentra, and GT-R. This development reportedly prompted Honda to accelerate discussions with Nissan about forming an alliance.
According to Nikkei, Honda insiders stated that after Foxconn expressed interest in acquiring Nissan, Honda rushed to restart merger talks and warned that any partnership between Nissan and Foxconn would nullify Honda’s potential alliance with Nissan. For Honda, a partnership with Nissan is critical to its long-term growth strategy, and the company was determined to avoid a breakdown in negotiations. Honda even considered positioning itself as a “white knight”—a friendly acquirer—to counter a potential hostile takeover bid (TOB) by Hon Hai.
However, recent reports from Reuters and Asahi Shimbun indicate that Nissan’s President, Makoto Uchida, has informed Honda’s President, Toshihiro Mibe, of Nissan’s decision to terminate merger talks. Earlier media coverage had already suggested that Nissan was moving away from its merger plans with Honda.
In response, Nissan issued a statement: “There are media reports claiming the company will withdraw from the memorandum of understanding regarding business integration with Honda, but the company has not announced this.” Nissan clarified that discussions with Honda are ongoing and cover various aspects mentioned in media reports. The company expects to finalize its decision and release an official statement around mid-February.
A key figure in this unfolding story is Jun Seki, Foxconn’s current CEO for EVs. Seki spent 33 years at Nissan, holding senior positions such as Executive Director of Nissan Motor, President of Dongfeng Motor Co., and Senior Vice President of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. After an unsuccessful bid to become Nissan’s CEO, Seki left in January 2020 to become President and COO of Nidec Corporation. In January 2023, he joined Foxconn as Chief Strategy Officer of its EV joint venture and was promoted to CEO of Foxconn’s EV operations in April 2024.
As global automotive competition heats up—particularly with rapid changes in the Chinese automotive market—Nissan is struggling with declining product competitiveness, falling sales, shrinking profits, stock price drops, leadership reshuffles, and ongoing restructuring. Financial reports show that from April to September 2024, Nissan’s net profit for the first half of the fiscal year was just 19.2 billion yen (approximately $12.6 million USD), marking a staggering 94% year-on-year decline. In the second fiscal quarter (July to September 2024), Honda also saw a 15% year-on-year drop in operating profit—its first decline in seven quarters.
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