Honda and Nissan have officially confirmed rumors that they’re pursuing a merger, the companies wrote in a joint press release. Each would continue to operate under its own brand, but with a new joint holding company as parent. If Nissan-controlled Mitsubishi also came on board, the combined group would become the world’s third largest automaker by sales volume and have a net worth of up to $50 billion.
“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.
Integration talks are still preliminary, but the companies are pressing forward. “We are still at the stage of starting our review and we have not decided on a business integration yet,” said Honda director Toshihiro Mibe. However, he added that the companies aim “to find a direction for the possibility of business integration by the end of January 2025.” After that, they hope to have a “definitive agreement” concerning business integration by June 2025. Approval must come from each company’s shareholders and is subject to Nissan executing a turnaround.
Nissan and Honda previously announced plans to work together on EV components and software development, but the joint company would be far more integrated. According to the press release, the plan includes: standardizing vehicle platforms; unifying research and development teams; and optimizing manufacturing…
