Today, Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda announced they are exploring options for closer collaboration, while firmly denying any discussions about merging into a single entity.
Earlier, unverified reports emerged regarding a potential merger involving Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi, leading to a 22 percent increase in Nissan’s stock prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, whereas Honda’s shares dropped by three percent.
According to Beta, trading in Nissan shares was temporarily suspended due to the possibility of speculative transactions, but resumed after the three factories jointly announced that they were considering various forms of future cooperation, but that no decisions had been made.
Back in August, the aforementioned manufacturers announced that they would work together on autonomous driving software and components for electric vehicles, and an agreement on such cooperation was concluded.
If the three companies were to merge, an automotive giant worth more than $55 billion would be formed, with the potential to be among the three largest in the world, along with Toyota and Volkswagen.
Honda and Nissan are currently struggling to maintain their high position in the auto industry, but the rise of Chinese manufacturers is not going their way. Profits are falling, layoffs and restructuring have been announced, and Nissan’s boss even demonstratively cut his salary in half to show that savings are necessary.
Honda produced 4.2 million vehicles last year, Nissan 3.4 million, and Mitsubishi 1 million. Japanese leader Toyota surpassed them in total with 11.5 million cars produced in 2023.
