It’s official: Honda and Nissan are negotiating a merger that would make them the third largest automaker in the world, behind only Toyota and Volkswagen. This partnership actually began in March, when the two Japanese automakers agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for electric vehicle development. Now, they’ve signed another MOU with the goal of fully joining companies.
We first caught wind of this news last week, thanks to a story from Japanese business publication Nikkei. With both companies formally acknowledging the negotiations, we now have a timeline. Honda and Nissan hope to iron out all the details of their merger by June of the coming year, however, the two parties don’t anticipate the union clearing all the regulatory hurdles and taking effect until August 2026.
“Today marks a pivotal moment as we begin discussions on business integration that has the potential to shape our future,” said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida. “If realized, I believe that by uniting the strengths of both companies, we can deliver unparalleled value to customers worldwide who appreciate our respective brands. Together, we can create a unique way for them to enjoy cars that neither company could achieve alone.”
There aren’t yet any specific details of share ownership or transfers, nor is there word of how the companies will cooperate. Those are expected to come in time. However, both brands are floating the idea of standardizing vehicle platforms and powertrains, splitting R&D costs, and streamlining their supply chains, which we gained some insight into over the weekend.
“Honda and Nissan are two companies with distinctive strengths,” said Honda Director and Representative Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe. “We are still at the stage of starting our review, and we have not decided on a business integration yet, but in order to find a direction for the possibility of business integration by the end of January 2025, we strive to be the one and only leading company that creates new mobility value through chemical reaction that can only be driven through synthesis of the two teams.”
There are a few more players in this story, though. Both Nissan and Honda signed a separate MOU with Mitsubishi, so it can decide whether it wants to be included in this plan or not, as Nissan is Mitsubishi’s majority shareholder. Things get a little messier, though, when you consider Renault. The Renault Group currently holds about 36% of Nissan due to their longstanding alliance that has slowly been unwound over the last several years.
“Renault Group acknowledges the announcements made today by Nissan and Honda, which are still at an early stage,” said Renault in a recent statement. “As the main shareholder of Nissan, Renault Group will consider all options based on the best interest of the Group and its stakeholders. Renault Group continues to execute its strategy and to roll-out projects that create value for the Group, including projects already launched within the Alliance.”
One of the main reasons for this merger seems to be electric vehicle development, specifically for the Chinese market, where Japanese car sales are down. Joining forces will allow Honda and Nissan to pool their resources, split development costs, and ideally offer more competitive, affordable EVs in China, the world’s biggest EV market. It could also spare Nissan from a potential hostile takeover by Chinese tech manufacturing giant Foxconn, which remains a possibility if today’s planned merger falls through. Of course, what we really want to know is how this could affect a future NSX or GT-R revival.
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