TAIWAN IPHONE MAKER FOXCONN SETS ITS SIGHTS ON THE EVER MORE CROWDED EV MARKET

Auto industry newcomers like Taiwan-based iPhone maker Foxconn and China's Huawei Technologies are maneuvering to gain an edge 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.

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Also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn has been snapping up links in the automotive supply chain, one of a growing number of technology companies that are leveraging their know-how in electronics and communications. Foxconn's auto venture with Taiwan automaker and importer Yulon Motor Co., Foxtron, showcased its Model B, a sleek EV hatchback, as well as its automotive electronics, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

Honda and Nissan announced in December that they plan to seek a merger, a move that reports said may have partly been driven by Foxconn's interest in Nissan.

Here's an update on Foxconn's auto ambitions.

FROM IPHONES TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Whether or not Foxconn wanted to make a bid for Nissan, it has big ambitions, saying it eventually intends to make four of every 10 EVs 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 merger and acquisitions research firm.

In addition to Foxtron, its automaking joint venture with Taiwan's Yulon Motor, it has a 50% joint venture with Stellantis NV to design and sell automotive semiconductors and a 50% joint venture with Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a major auto supplier, to make passenger car chassis. It has invested in Indigo Technologies, which is commercializing a road sensing system developed at MIT. It also has a collaboration agreement with Blue Solutions to develop solid state batteries and has a collaboration with Italian auto designer Pininfarina.