Makoto Uchida (left), president and CEO of Japanese automaker Nissan, shakes hands with Toshihiro Mibe (right), director, president and representative executive officer of automaker Honda after a press conference in Tokyo on August 1, 2024 .
Richard A. Brooks | AFP | Getty Images
Nissan Shares soared on Wednesday media reports The struggling Japanese automaker is looking to merge honda carsforming a larger entity that can compete with larger rivals and invest more in the growing electric vehicle market.
Nissan shares recently rose 22%, while Honda shares fell 1.6%.
Honda and Nissan are reportedly considering operating under a holding company and will sign a memorandum of understanding soon Nikkei. They also hope to eventually bring Mitsubishi MotorsAccording to reports, Nissan Motor is the largest shareholder of the holding company, holding 24% of the shares.
The merger, if successful, would be particularly beneficial to Nissan, which has previously announced plans 9,000 jobs cut Global production capacity has been cut by a fifth due to fierce competition in major markets.
Joe McCabe, president and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions, told CNBC on Wednesday that Nissan is working with Renault Step aside.
“They (Nissan) really don’t have a leadership position in any of the segments in which they compete,” he said.
Nissan said in a statement that media reports that it was “considering business integration with Honda” were not based on statements from the company. Nissan said it is considering various possibilities for future cooperation with Honda and Mitsubishi, but no decisions have been made yet. shares Mitsubishi It ended up rising 14%.
According to the “Nikkei” report, the annual sales volume of the Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi merger will exceed 8 million vehicles. That would put the company among the world’s largest automakers, but still below its Japanese peers. Toyota Motorexist 11.2 million in 2023, and the German automaker Volkswagenreported sales last year were 9.2 million vehicle.
The merger report follows a strategic partnership between the two Japanese automakers earlier this year to share vehicle parts and software.
The tie-up would be the largest auto industry merger since Fiat Chrysler merged with France’s PSA Group star January 2021.
—Michael Wayland and Kevin Lim contributed to this report.
