A new deal between Nissan and Foxconn to allow the latter to build electric vehicles at the Oppama plant could save the Yokosuka-based facility. 

Nissan’s Oppama plant – which employed around 3,900 people as of the end of October, 2024 – faced potential closure earlier this year amid the Japanese car maker’s ongoing financial difficulties. 

Announced in May, the RE:Nissan plan has set out to achieve over 500 Billion Yen (Approximately 5.3 Billion AUD) in cost savings and includes the closure of seven out Nissan’s seventeen factories. 

However, a deal between Foxconn and Nissan would see the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer build their own electric vehicles at the facility.  

Foxconn – also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. – is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world and is also the largest manufacturer of the iPhone. 

In 2020 – in a joint venture with the Yulon group – Foxconn founded an electric vehicle subsidiary company called Foxtron. 

The company’s first concept car –  the Foxtron Model C – was unveiled in 2021, and is currently sold in Taiwan as the Luxgen N7, with other Foxtron models soon to be sold elsewhere. 

Foxconn’s potential factory collaboration with Nissan is the latest show of its ties with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. 

In May of this year, it was confirmed that a Mitsubishi-badged Foxconn vehicle would be launched in Australia in 2026, expected to be a rebadged Foxtron Model B.

Prior to this – in February – Foxconn announced its intention to collaborate with Nissan after its aborted merger with Honda, but crucially did not plan to acquire the company. 

Collaborations between Nissan and Foxconn – rather than buyout – would allow Foxconn to manufacture its vehicles without inheriting Nissan’s financial difficulties and allow both companies to benefit from each other's technological expertise. 

Should the Oppama plant partnership go ahead, this would likely involve Foxconn using under-utilised lines at the factory to build their cars. Crucially the plant would be kept open, saving jobs and preventing substantial economic fallout in the Kanagawa Prefecture where the factory is based. 

Whether or not the collaboration will go ahead is yet to be confirmed, as are its specific details.