(Bloomberg) -- Foxconn Technology Group’s automobile arm and Nidec Corp. said they plan to establish a Taiwan-based joint venture by the end of this year as they deepen ties by developing and selling powertrains for electric vehicles.

The companies will “conduct feasibility studies and contract negotiations with the aim of concluding a joint venture,” they said in a statement Wednesday. The venture will focus on development, production and sales of traction motors and related systems. Other details will be decided in further talks, they said.

Foxconn, the world’s biggest assembler of iPhones, and Nidec signed an agreement in March to supply traction motors -- the collection of components including the motor, gears and drive shaft that propel a vehicle -- to global automakers, combining their large-scale manufacturing experience.

Foxconn’s Foxtron Vehicle Technologies was established last year as a venture with Yulon Group, also based in Taiwan. In October, Foxconn unveiled an open and customizable EV software and hardware platform called MIH, on which others are invited to contribute hardware, software and components.

Kyoto-based Nidec, a key supplier in the electric-motor industry, is pushing deeper into the global auto market. The roster of automakers buying its motors includes China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. and France’s Peugeot SA.

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