TOKYO, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) — Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor introduced Monday they’ve agreed to start talks on a merger that will set up a brand new holding firm by round August 2026, as the worldwide auto trade’s competitors in electrification and software program integration intensifies.
The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding to begin discussions towards a enterprise integration underneath a brand new holding firm, creating the world’s third-largest automaker group to compete with U.S. and Chinese rivals within the electrical car market.
“The business environment for both companies and the wider automotive industry has rapidly changed,” Honda and Nissan mentioned in a joint assertion, “and the speed of technological innovation has continued to accelerate.”
“To lead the mobility transformation, we’ve come to think that we need something bolder than just cooperation in some specific fields,” Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe mentioned throughout a joint press convention along with his counterparts from Nissan, “We have reconfirmed that a merger would create synergies in all kinds of fields.”
Honda and Nissan, Japan’s second- and third-largest automakers by quantity, respectively, intention to wrap up negotiations on the phrases of their merger by June 2025, whereas Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan’s associate, will determine by the tip of January 2025 whether or not to affix the merger, the automakers mentioned.
Before Monday’s merger talks kicked off, the Japanese firms already agreed in March this 12 months to start a feasibility research on a strategic partnership in EV manufacturing and software program applied sciences to chop prices and enhance competitiveness, with Mitsubishi Motors becoming a member of the talks in August.