Two household brands in the car industry, Honda and Nissan, are reported to be in talks to merge with each other, Nikkei reported on Wednesday.
The merger would incorporate Mitsubishi Motors, as Nissan is the major shareholder in the car producer; together, the three would be the third-largest car making group in the world, with combined sales of over eight million vehicles.
The reason for the merger is said to combine forces to be competitive against Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers.
Honda and Nissan have been in official cooperation talks since March this year, and entered into a strategic partnership that includes Mitsubishi Motors in August, to "jointly discuss discuss a framework for further intelligence and electrification of automobiles."
EV sales worldwide have surged in recent times, but Honda has been slow to ride the transport electrification wave. Both Honda and Nissan have struggled to meet sales targets in key markets around the world, and been forced to cut production capacity and workforces.
In New Zealand, Nissan recently released the full-EV Ariya, after a delay in the car's market introduction in the country.
Nissan has been an EV pioneer with its well-known LEAF vehicle, which has been produced since 2010.
16 Comments
I think this will make them more likely to fail! Honda have a chance as they make reliable cars, Nissan used to be good but started making junk, Mitsi have always made crap.
Its not really EV that is their main competitor, it is China.
Edit: Just saw an ad for MG on this page! $19,990 for a petrol with 10 Year Warranty. Good luck to them...
Reliability survey from What Car in the UK. MG do not fare well - about on par with what MGs were back in the day (rolling sets of mechanical issues with permanent oil leaks)
https://www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-most-reliable-cars-bran…
That said, the rate that the Chinese makes innovate and develop makes me believe the reliability will evolve quickly as well.
Nissan is eighteen months (or less) away from bankruptcy. Honda helping them out at this point will put their own business at extreme risk. Quite telling is Toyota's decision to dump development of their own longstanding hybrid tech and to license from BYD instead. And I suspect that the vast majority of new car buying Kiwis who haven't heard of Xpeng or Zeekr yet will certainly have done so in the next year or two.
That's an interesting thought.
Maybe some of the luxury-oriented vehicles aimed at markets like China? Example: the long-wheelbase BMW saloons not available in Europe. Or possibly some of the niche, sporting brands?
Picks for potential losers(?)
Mercedes could do with a wake up call about their pricing: they used to be very well made and durable, but no longer.
VW group's products are too expensive (here) for what they are, aren't that durable or interesting, and cost too much to service - important if you're selling mass-market family cars.
Toyota and BMW have been cooperating for quite some time, and that is now continuing.
I know a guy around my own age who was looking for the mid-life-crisis sports car, and while the indestructible Celica's of their youth were still green in memory, the new Celica got taken off the shortlist becasue of the BMW engine: 'fragile and expensive to fix' was the verdict. And it was launched without a manual transmission.
Toyota also collaborate with Subaru, so kind of interested where that one goes, as the results so far, the 86/BRZ coupe, have been pretty good.
I think your link is pointing to the wrong place.
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