Honda and Nissan to start merger talks, in hope to compete with Toyota, Tesla and Chinese EV brands

Honda and Nissan to start merger talks, in hope to compete with Toyota, Tesla and Chinese EV brands

Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan are set to enter into talks for a merger, Nikkei Asia has reported. This could ultimately grow to include Mitsubishi, which would form two camps of Japanese automakers, the other being Toyota which has stakes in Subaru, Mazda and Suzuki.

The merger, if materialised, will pool the automaker’s resources for them to better compete against Tesla as well as Chinese electric vehicle makers, Nikkei Asia said. Honda and Nissan plan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for equity stakes in a new holding company under which the resulting combined company would operate, Nikkei Asia wrote.

Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi combined sold around four million vehicles in the first half of this year, whereas Toyota sold 5.2 million vehicles in the same period. Should Honda and Nissan join forces with Mitsubishi, this would create a group with an annual volume of 6.7 million units, that would place it above General Motors but below Hyundai.

Honda and Nissan to start merger talks, in hope to compete with Toyota, Tesla and Chinese EV brands

In August this year, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi signed an MoU to jointly discuss a framework for further intelligence and electrification of vehicles, which was based on a prior agreement signed between Honda and Nissan in March this year.

Meanwhile, Honda’s earlier plans for a series of affordable electric vehicles with General Motors based on a new global architecture had been planned for market introduction in 2027, however this was reportedly scrapped in October 2023 On the other hand, GM has signed an MoU with Hyundai for collaboration across key strategic areas.

In September, Nissan announced that it has reacquired around 5% of its own shares from Renault in a deal valued at nearly 80 billion yen (about USD552 million or RM2.29 billion), and Renault said in a statement at the time that the share sale to Nissan will result in an estimated capital loss of 1.1 billion euros (RM5.1 billion) as the value of the stake is lower than previously reported on its balance sheet.

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Mick Chan

Open roads and closed circuits hold great allure for Mick Chan. Driving heaven to him is exercising a playful chassis on twisty paths; prizes ergonomics and involvement over gadgetry. Spent three years at a motoring newspaper and short stint with a magazine prior to joining this website.

 

Comments

  • wow after this got Honda CRV e-Power!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 3
  • YB Kinte Kunte on Dec 18, 2024 at 11:50 am

    If the merger is finalised,our local Nissan distributor Tan Chong stand little chance to represent the merged entity.Pretty sure DRB n Honda Japan wouldn’t want a failed partner distributor to market HONSAN(merged nama) cars .
    The Chinese cars are flooding South East Asia cos Donald the Trumpeter n kiasu EU are raising barriers with tariffs.
    So the Japanese auto giants are waking up to intense competition from Chinese entrants.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 2
  • DonkeyKong on Dec 18, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    Nissan will infect Honda with their suckage and they’ll all sink together

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
  • kckfen on Dec 18, 2024 at 2:46 pm

    Let it go banckrupt, then Honda buy back the brand and aset left over. Honda dont need to be burden by toxic Nissan management and debt. New Nissan will be under Honda management completely. Merging will spill all the toxic HR management from Nissan to Honda and burden Honda with Nissan huge debt.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 2
  • Nissan and Honda merger, we will call it Nihon (日本).
    it is foretold.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 2
  • It’s good to create Honsan for econs of scale and shared tech where Nissan can provide expertise in ultra high performance engines while Honda can leverage on their ability to produce energy efficient engines and high quality mass production vehicle lines. Seems like a win-win situation for Honda and Nissan. Just don’t invite Renault this time around.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • Ben Yap on Dec 18, 2024 at 4:25 pm

    Chinese buy over Nissan got better chance of success. Japanese buy over, they will fail miserably. Look at other Japanese companies like NEC, Fujifilm, Sharp and Toshiba. Japanese carmakers are also losing grounds to Chinese carmakers surges. Nowadays Japan is not more competitive due to their slow management to market changes and poor visionary leaderships.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
    • its a matter of maruah, they cannot lose their face selling their legacy brand to direct rivals, no matter they want to accept the fact or not, the chinese are fast becoming their formidable competitor now.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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