Foxconn says it is open to buying a stake in Nissan

By Wen-Yee Lee

NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan's Foxconn would consider taking a stake in Nissan for cooperation, its chairman said, as the Japanese automaker's future hangs in the balance after stepping back from merger talks with Honda.

"If cooperation requires it (purchasing Nissan shares), we will consider it," Foxconn chairman Young Liu told reporters on Wednesday in the company's first public comments about its talks with Nissan.

"But purchasing its shares is not our aim; our aim is cooperation," he said, adding it was talking about cooperation with Nissan's biggest shareholder Renault, which owns 36% of the Japanese firm.

Struggling Nissan is again at a crossroads after sources said last week that negotiations with bigger rival Honda to create the world's No. 4 automaker had been complicated by growing differences.

Nissan and Honda are expected to lay out a new stage in their uncertain relationship on Thursday, one that is likely to see them formally call off a plan to merge after talks between the two foundered last week, according to sources.

The deal would have been the latest change in a car industry facing a huge threat from China's BYD and other electric vehicle entrants.

Nissan is open to working with new partners such as Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and Apple's main iPhone maker, the sources said last week.

Nissan and Renault declined to comment on Liu's remarks.

While Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, is best known for its role as an Apple supplier, it also has ambitions in the electric vehicle sector as it seeks to diversify its business.

Liu said Foxconn would not get into being an auto "brand" and would only provide commissioned design and manufacturing services.

(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee in New Taipei; Additional reporting by Daniel Leussink in Tokyo; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jamie Freed)