Makoto Uchida (L), president and CEO of Japanese auto maker Nissan, shakes arms with Toshihiro Mibe (R), director, president and consultant govt officer of auto maker Honda, following a press convention in Tokyo on August 1, 2024.
Richard A. Brooks | Afp | Getty Pictures
Nissan Motor shares surged Wednesday following a media report that the Japanese automaker is trying to merge with Honda Motor.
Nissan shares had been final buying and selling up 22%, whereas Honda shares slipped 1.2%.
Honda and Nissan are contemplating working beneath a holding firm, and shortly will signal a memorandum of understanding, based on a report within the Nikkei newspaper. Additionally they look to finally carry Mitsubishi Motors, wherein Nissan is the highest shareholder with a 24% stake, beneath the holding firm, based on the report.
In an announcement, Nissan mentioned media studies that it’s “contemplating a enterprise integration” with Honda will not be based mostly on an announcement from our firm. Nissan mentioned it’s contemplating varied prospects for future collaboration with Honda and Mitsubishi, however no choices have been made.
The mixed Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi enterprise would equate to greater than 8 million car gross sales yearly, based on Nikkei. That will place the corporate among the many world’s largest automakers, however nonetheless beneath fellow Japanese automaker Toyota Motor, at 11.2 million in 2023, in addition to German automaker Volkswagen, which final yr reported gross sales of 9.2 million automobiles.
The merger report follows the 2 Japanese automakers getting into right into a strategic partnership earlier this yr on shared automotive parts and software program.
Such a tie-up can be the biggest automotive business merger since Fiat Chrysler joined with France-based PSA Groupe to kind Stellantis in January 2021.
This can be a breaking information story. Please refresh for updates.
– Michael Wayland and Hui Jie contributed to this report.
