Nissan has reportedly backed out of discussions after it discovered Honda wanted it to be a subsidiary, not a partner
- Discussions about a planned merger of Honda and Nissan appear to be off the table
- Unnamed sources say Nissan objected to Honda’s plan to make it a subsidiary rather than an equal partner
- But not all hope is lost, and discussions might start again in the near future
The sources also reported there could be the possibility of the two automakers going back to the table to start a new discussion from scratch, but none of that has been confirmed. If the original merger had gone through, it was expected that an announcement would be made in June 2025.
If a merger had – or possibly might still – go through, the Japanese domestic market would essentially be divided into two automakers, Toyota Motor Group and a Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Toyota is the largest automaker in Japan, followed by Honda and Nissan. Reports are that Nissan, which has been experiencing a downturn in sales, plans to cut 20% of its global capacity and shed 9,000 employees.
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