Executives from Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. jointly revealed they have signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate full business integration through the creation of a publicly listed joint holding company that would become the parent of both Nissan and Honda.
If approved at shareholder meetings and by relevant authorities, the new entity would be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by August 2026, while Nissan and Honda shares would be delisted. Talks on share transfer ratios, leadership structures, and the integration of operations remain ongoing, with an expected completion date of mid-2025 for definitive agreements.
Nissan and Honda initially signed a strategic partnership agreement earlier this year to accelerate electrification and intelligent vehicle technology.
The decision to consider a more formal business integration reflects an urgent need to respond swiftly to changing market forces and the rapid pace of automotive innovation, executives said.
Leaders from both companies believe that pooling resources—ranging from research and development to manufacturing and procurement—will help them remain globally competitive, deliver cutting-edge products to consumers, and advance efforts toward carbon neutrality and a zero-traffic-fatality society, according to the announcement.
“Today marks a pivotal moment as we begin discussions on business integration that has the potential to shape our future,” Nissan CEO and President Makoto Uchida said in the statement. “If realized, I believe that by uniting the strengths of both companies, we can deliver unparalleled value to customers worldwide who appreciate our respective brands. Together, we can create a unique way for them to enjoy cars that neither company could achieve alone.”
Honda Director Toshihiro Mibe also highlighted the significance of the talks. He said that bringing together the resources that Honda and Nissan have been developing over decades “is essential to overcome challenging environmental shifts that the auto industry is facing.”
“Honda and Nissan are two companies with distinctive strengths,” he said in a statement. “We are still at the stage of starting our review, and we have not decided on a business integration yet, but in order to find a direction for the possibility of business integration by the end of January 2025, we strive to be the one and only leading company that creates new mobility value through chemical reaction that can only be driven through synthesis of the two teams.”
“In order to realize synergies and to make the best use of each company’s strengths, we will also study the best form of cooperation,” Kato said.
If Nissan and Honda were to merge, they would form the world’s third-largest automotive company by sales. That would trail only fellow Japanese giant Toyota Motor Corp. and German automaker Volkswagen Group. The deal would be bigger than the 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA, which created Stellantis N.V.
The global push toward EVs is likely a significant factor in any further cooperation between Honda and Nissan. According to figures published by Reuters, Honda wants to produce more than 2 million EVs annually and have EVs represent about 40 percent of its new car sales by 2030.
Similarly, Nissan is aiming for 60 percent of its new vehicle sales to be EVs and hybrids by 2030. While Nissan was one of the pioneers of the EV movement with its 2010 introduction of the Leaf, the Japanese automaker now trails far behind Chinese companies that make and sell most of the world’s EVs. Tesla Inc., a maker of luxury EVs, is currently selling the most EVs of any automaker in the U.S. market.
Nissan is also facing financial difficulties. In November, the automaker announced that it is cutting 9,000 jobs and 20 percent of its global production capacity to reduce its annual costs by $2.6 billion.
Executives hope that a three-way collaboration, or an arrangement that includes Mitsubishi in strategic areas, will bolster each brand’s ability to innovate and remain competitive amid a changing industry.
Mitsubishi Motors expects to reach a conclusion on its potential involvement by the end of January 2025, according to the Dec. 23 statement.
