Japanese automakers Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi said Thursday they are ending talks on business integration.
Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida said the talks had changed focus from setting up a joint holding company to making Nissan a subsidiary of Honda.
“The intent was to join forces to win in the global competition, but this was not going to realize Nissan’s potential, so I could not accept it,” he told reporters. He said that Nissan was going to aim for a turnaround without Honda instead.
Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe said in a separate news conference that Honda had suggested a stock swap to speed up decision-making.
“I am really disappointed,” Mibe told reporters. “I felt the potential was great, but I also knew actions that would bring pain were necessary to realize that.”
The automakers agreed to end their agreement on considering a structure for a collaboration, a joint statement said. The decision was passed by board meetings at each of the companies.
Merger efforts puzzled analysts
Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Corp. announced in December that they were going to hold talks to set up a joint holding company. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. had said it was considering joining that group.
From the start, the effort had analysts puzzled as to the advantages to any of the companies, as their model lineups and strengths overlap in an industry shaken by the arrival of powerful newcomers like Tesla and China’s BYD, amid an industry shift to electrification that has been dominated by the latter country.
Honda and Nissan initially said they were trying to finalize an agreement by June and set up the holding company by August.
The three automakers will continue to work together on electric vehicles and smart cars, such as autonomous driving, they said Thursday.
In recent weeks, Japanese media had various reports about the talks breaking down, citing unidentified sources. Some said Nissan balked at becoming a minor player in the partnership with Honda.
Mibe denied he knew or heard anything about the media speculation that Taiwan’s Foxconn was considering taking a stake in Nissan.
Uchida also denied having held any official talks with Foxconn, but stressed that various options will be considered as Nissan attempts a turnaround, promising a more detailed plan within a month.
Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced their plans to merge in 2026 in an effort to make both companies more competitive in the EV market.
Nissan reports quarterly profit crash
Honda is in far better financial shape and was to take the lead in the joint executive team. Honda reported Thursday that its April-December 2024 profits declined seven per cent to 805 billion yen ($7.47 billion Cdn).
Nissan reported a loss for the July-September quarter as its vehicle sales sank, prompting it to slash 9,000 jobs. At that time, Uchida took a 50 per cent pay cut to take responsibility for the results.
On Thursday, Nissan reported that its April-December profit crashed to 5.1 billion yen ($47.3 million) from 325 billion yen ($3 billion) last year, and projected losses of 80 billion yen ($742.9 million) for the full fiscal year through March.
When asked by reporters if he would resign to take responsibility for Nissan’s results, Uchida expressed openness to departing but said it was the board’s decision.
