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Honda to merge with Nissan by middle of 2026
- Honda and Nissan have agreed to merge by mid-2026, making potentially the world's third-largest car manufacturer. The continued rise of Chinese automakers and the cost of developing large-scale EV platforms have spurred the move. With Honda in a much stronger financial position, it will have the right to nominate the majority of the combined board, and top executive positions will be occupied by Honda nominees. The two companies aim to complete their definitive agreement by June 2025 and delist from the Tokyo Stock Exchange by late July or early August 2026.
- If the merger is approved, it will consolidate Japan's automakers into two primary blocs - Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi on one side, and Toyota on the other. The merged automaker would become the world's third-largest volume automaker by sales, pushing it ahead of Hyundai-Kia, with over 7.35 million cars sold. The potential entry of Mitsubishi into the merger would add roughly 900,000, further pushing the car manufacturer past Hyundai-Kia but still trailing behind Toyota and Volkswagen.
- Short-term pain is expected, as the combined automaker will only see significant gains in 2030. Combining platforms, research and development departments, and back-office operations, such as marketing, HR and IT, will lead to cost savings for both companies. These functions are currently worked on by both brands, leading to some model and geographic overlaps. As such, it is not known how the combined entity will differentiate its brands and what will happen to the luxury brands Acura and Infiniti. Both are struggling for sales and mostly retreating to their North American base.
- During the press conference, the aim of the new company was to think about options leading them to bigger scale. The possibility of combining Honda's strength in hybrid drivetrains with Nissan's knowledge of body-on-frame architectures to create a hybrid ute was presented. The last time Honda owned a significant portion of another automaker was in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a shareholder of the Rover Group. It later sold its share in 1994 when BMW purchased the group from British Aerospace.
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