Japan's Honda and Nissan would begin merger talks

DETROIT: Japanese automakers NissanEngine and HondaEngine They reportedly plan to enter into merger talks to better compete in the rapidly changing global auto industry, the Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday.

Honda and Nissan are considering operating under a holding company and will soon sign a memorandum of understanding, according to the report. They also hope to eventually bring Mitsubishi Motors, in which Nissan is the largest shareholder with a 24% stake, under the holding company..

The combined Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi venture would equate to more than 8 million vehicle sales a year, according to Nikkei. This would place the company among the world's largest automakers, but still below its Japanese counterparts. ToyotaEnginewith 11.2 million in 2023, as well as the German car manufacturer volkswagenwhich last year recorded sales of 9.2 million vehicles.

In similar statements, Honda and Nissan neither confirmed nor denied the report: “The reported content was not published by our company,” Honda said. “As announced in March this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, building on each other's strengths. We will inform our shareholders of any updates at the appropriate time.”

The merger report follows the two Japanese automakers entering a strategic partnership earlier this year on shared automotive components and software.

Such a merger would be the largest auto industry merger since Fiat Chrysler joined the France-based PSA Group to form stellantis in January 2021.

Automotive consultants and other experts have recently been calling for an increase in mergers and acquisitions to share costs and better compete against rapidly expanding Chinese automakers, as well as the American leader in all-electric vehicles. tesla.

Honda's U.S.-listed shares closed up about 1% on Tuesday. at the counter Nissan stockwhich is in the middle of a restructuring, jumped more than 11%.