The Honda-Nissan Merger Might Not Be Dead After All
The Honda-Nissan merger is getting plenty of mileage out of the old saying that “it’s not over till it’s over.” Weeks of reporting ended with news that the pair would walk away from the potential deal over Nissan’s concerns that it would give up too much control in the process, but there’s still a chance that it’s not dead yet.
Honda recently said it would be open to resuming talks with Nissan if its CEO, Makoto Uchida, steps down. The deal fell apart as Nissan felt it would be relegated to a much smaller subsidiary role within Honda, and Honda execs felt Nissan wasn’t as worried about its financial situation as it should have been.
The merger could be enough for Nissan insiders to push Uchida out, but the automaker’s alliance partner, Renault, also wants him gone, so his days could be numbered. Uchida has said he wants to stay until 2026, but many feel that his actions have failed to make a meaningful improvement in Nissan’s business operations, and some have said that he’s responsible for botching the Honda negotiations.
A merger would benefit Mitsubishi, which is tied up with Nissan in the alliance with Renault, and it could be the shot in the arm both automakers need to effectively compete. Mitsubishi would not have to lean so heavily on Nissan after the merger, but analysts believe that its fate is tied to Nissan’s ability to turn things around.
[Images: Honda, Nissan]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Honda-Nissan has no future. There's no brand synergy and both are too arrogant.
Here's what Nissan should do - take Polestar and possibly Volvo off the hands of Geely, and switch to their own components so they aren't hit with Chinese EV tariffs and fold the brand into Infiniti to expand the distribution.
Immediately conquest Tesla defectors on the high end with Infinti/Polestar/Volvo while scaling down their platforms to commodity cars and CUV's. Nab their hybrid tech, replace the Volvo crap with Nissan components, and slowly push out the lower end of their customer base.
I love going back to TTAC truths. Eh, Nissan.