Car industry Japanese car manufacturers want to merge
Japanese carmakers have fallen behind globally when it comes to electric vehicles. Now Nissan and Honda are in talks about merging into a holding company. Mitsubishi Motors is to join them.
23.12.2024, 11:18
SDA
Japanese carmakers Honda and Nissan are in talks about a merger in the face of tough global competition in electric vehicles and want to involve Mitsubishi Motors. The three companies announced an agreement on the start of talks at a press conference held at short notice.
Honda and Nissan, Japan's second- and third-largest carmakers, want to conclude negotiations by June 2025. Nissan's partner Mitsubishi Motors wants to decide by the end of January whether the group will participate in a merger, the companies announced.
Honda and Nissan are considering a holding company by August 2026. Together, with sales of more than eight million vehicles, they would form the third-largest car group in the world and move closer to Toyota and Volkswagen. They want to pool their resources in order to better compete against Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. Japanese car manufacturers have fallen behind globally in this area.
Cooperation already known since March
Nissan and Honda had already announced in March that they would work together in the development of electric vehicles and software technologies in order to reduce their costs and improve their competitiveness. Mitsubishi Motors joined these talks in August.
"Honda and Nissan have begun to consider business integration and will explore the creation of significant synergies between the two companies in a variety of areas," said Honda CEO Makoto Uchida. It is significant that Nissan - the largest shareholder in Mitsubishi Motors - is also involved in these discussions, it said.
