Japan’s Honda, Nissan mull scrapping merger plan

: Battery materials, Metals
25/02/06

Japanese car maker Honda and Nissan are considering ending merger talks, a representative of Honda told Argus today.

Ending negotiations for proposed merger is among the issues the two firms are discussing, Honda's representative told Argus on 6 February, without providing further details.

Honda will make an official announcement regarding the deal, including its course of action, in mid-February, according to statements released by the firm on 5 February.

Nissan similarly commented that the firms are "in the stage of advancing various discussions", according to a statement the company separately released on 5 February. This includes "the contents of the report", the statement said, referring to the local news story about a possible withdrawal from the basic merger agreement with Honda. Nissan reiterated that the report is not based on any official announcement from the company.

This comes only several weeks after the firms launched formal merger negotiations in late December 2024. This included setting up a joint holding company under which the current brands would operate as subsidiaries.

The merger plan was partly aimed at jointly developing electric vehicles (EVs) along with studying possible areas of co-operation in developing automotive software platforms, core components relating to EVs and complementary products.

Tough negotiation was anticipated from the beginning partly because of Nissan's financial struggles. Honda had suggested the merger plan could be scrapped depending on Nissan's turnaround, reiterating that the proposed merger is not aimed at alleviating Nissan's financial situation.

By Yusuke Maekawa

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