Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn – best known for being one of the makers of the Apple iPhone – will reportedly produce an electric vehicle (EV) to be sold in Australia as a Mitsubishi.
Automotive News reports Foxconn executive and former Nissan employee Jun Seki confirmed the move earlier this week, as the tech firm gears up towards EV production.
Seki-san said the brand’s Foxtron Model B – positioned as a crossover hatchback – will be built for an unnamed Japanese brand and sold in Australia during the first half of 2026.
According to the publication, Japanese media had previously reported Mitsubishi as the Japanese brand.
“Regarding the related articles, we refrain from making any comments,” a spokesperson for Mitsubishi said. “We will continue to explore collaboration opportunities with various partners to achieve sustainable growth.”
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
The automotive executive reiterated his company’s plans to partner with both Mitsubishi and its part-owner Nissan in the future – something which has been on the table in the wake of a proposed merger between Nissan and Honda collapsing – but didn’t provide further detail.
If the reports are true, Foxconn’s Model B would give Mitsubishi a much-needed EV in Australia.
Despite being an early adopter with the low-volume i-MIEV, Mitsubishi has since pivoted to plug-in hybrids, with PHEV versions of its Outlander and Eclipse Cross SUVs being among the most popular proponents of the powertrain technology in Australia.
However, the Eclipse Cross has been axed, as has the ASX small SUV and the Pajero Sport large SUV, effectively leaving Mitsubishi with just the Outlander and Triton, at least for now.
This leaves the carmaker relatively vulnerable, especially with the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) penalties coming into effect from July 1.
While the ASX will return as a rebadged Renault Captur and new-generation versions of both the ASX and Pajero Sport are on the horizon, Mitsubishi hasn’t announced plans to launch an EV in Australia.
The Model B is similar in size to affordable EVs such as the MG ZS EV and Kia EV3, measuring 4.3m long on a 2.8m wheelbase.
Styled by Pininfarina, it has a claimed driving range of more than 500km on the lenient NEDC cycle from a 60kWh battery pack.
Based on the Automotive News report, it’s unclear if any of Foxconn’s other EVs – such as the Tesla Model Y-sized Model C and the smaller Model A – will come to Australia, or even be offered to Mitsubishi.
As reported in February, Foxconn chairman Young Liu told reporters it “did have talks about acquiring a stake in [Nissan]”, but the company’s “main goal is co-operation”.
At the time, Mr Liu said such co-operation could see Foxconn contracted to produce vehicles for Nissan or even Renault or Honda – but no mention was made at the time of Mitsubishi.
Since then, Ivan Espinosa has replaced Makoto Uchida as Nissan CEO, potentially putting the Honda merger back on the table, and pushing Foxconn further away from a deal.
