Nikkei: Foxconn close to 50% stake in Mitsubishi unit

Mitsubishi Electric is reportedly looking to sell a 50% stake in its automotive parts subsidiary, Mitsubishi Electric Mobility, to Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry—better known as Foxconn—with a final agreement expected by May 2026. Nikkei reporting indicates that the two companies will jointly operate the business, which had been at risk of a full divestment before the partnership structure was chosen.

The deal is designed to draw on Foxconn’s manufacturing cost advantages and scale to strengthen the supplier’s competitive position. The subsidiary posted sales of JP¥919.2bn (US$5.8bn) for the fiscal year ended March 2025, driven primarily by its automotive equipment business, which specialises in alternators and starters.

The transaction is the latest in a series of moves through which Foxconn has tried to stake out a presence within Japan’s automotive sector—an industry historically resistant to outside penetration. Earlier in 2026, Foxconn and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation announced plans to create a Japan-based zero-emission bus maker, giving Foxconn a production foothold on Japanese soil for the first time. 

Mitsubishi and Foxconn have also agreed to co-develop a battery-electric SUV based on Foxconn’s MIH open platform, with initial sales targeted at Australia and New Zealand. The SUV is a lightly-revised take on the Foxtron Model B, itself developed via a separate joint venture with Yulon Motor. In Taiwan, the production version of this vehicle was recently launched as the Foxtron Bria.

Having failed to outright acquire a controlling state in one of Japan’s legacy automakers—as it attempted with Nissan in 2025 only to meet significant institutional resistance—Foxconn’s strategy now appears to be shifting towards systemic presence in the country’s vehicle supply chain. Components businesses and commercial vehicle partnerships arguably represent a financial logic arguably more difficult to refuse, but also a less intrusive presence than direct acquisition attempts.

Foxconn’s Mitsubishi supply chain push runs parallel to its entry into battery and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. The company opened an LFP gigafactory in Taiwan in March 2025, with a planned initial capacity of 1.2 GWh and ambitions for subsequent facilities at ten or more GWh. Chairman Young Liu has framed the company’s automotive ambitions explicitly around the contract manufacturing model, essentially offering OEMs access to shared EV platforms and production capacity. In exchange, Foxconn’s efforts to become the industry’s dominant tier-one partner are strengthened, regardless of political pushback.