- Honda Cars and Nissan Motor are among the top three carmakers from Japan that also operate in India.
Japanese auto giants Honda and Nissan may soon join hands in a joint effort to grow in terms of sales as well as compete against rivals like Toyota Motor and Tesla, BYD in the electric vehicle segment. According to media reports, both the carmakers are involved in preliminary talks on a possible merger in the coming days. Nissan Motor is currently struggling to keep costs down through layoffs. The new merger will mean that Nissan will cut ties with French auto giant Renault.
Honda and Nissan are the largest carmakers in Japan in terms of volume and are followed by Toyota Motor. All three also operate in global markets including India. Toyota is one of the top five car manufacturers in India with popular models like Fortuner, Innova HighCross, Urban Cruiser Highrider. Honda and Nissan Motor are placed at the bottom with very low share in India. Honda sells models like City, Amaze and Elevate while Nissan has two models on sale – Magnite and X-Trail SUVs.
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The seeds of speculation of a Honda-Nissan merger were laid in March this year when both the Japanese carmakers agreed to explore a strategic partnership in the electric vehicle segment. The tie-up aims to take on not only big carmakers like Toyota, but also some EV giants like Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle makers like BYD.
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Honda and Nissan have not denied the media reports outright. A Honda spokesperson responded to the reports, saying, “We are discussing the possibilities of future collaboration between Honda and Nissan in various fields and those possibilities include the latest reports, but nothing has been decided “
A Nissan spokesperson issued the following statement to HT Auto. “The content of the report that Honda, Nissan and MMC are considering a business integration is not based on our company's announcement. As announced in March and August this year, Nissan, Honda and MMC are considering future cooperation. “We are considering various possibilities, including the content of the report, but no decision has been taken; if there is an update, we will inform all stakeholders at the appropriate time.”
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Nissan Motor also issued a statement on Wednesday, saying, “The content of the report that Honda, Nissan and MMC are considering a business integration is not based on our company's announcement. As announced in March and August this year, Nissan, Honda and MMC are considering various possibilities for future cooperation, including the content of the report, but no decision has been made. If there is any update, we will inform all stakeholders at the appropriate time.”
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This speculation comes at a time when Nissan Motor is facing a major financial crisis. In November, Nissan announced cuts of 9,000 jobs worldwide. The carmaker had also said it would reduce global production capacity by 20 percent. Its CEO Makoto Uchida even said he was willing to forfeit half his salary to help the carmaker stay afloat.
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First publication date: 18 Dec 2024, 08:52 am IST