Nissan, Mitsubishi, & Honda emblems.
Credit: The 3 brands.
Japan’s car makers, Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are having a go at bringing their operations together under a joint umbrella company, with Honda heading the new management. The merger is expected to go ahead in June.
A merger could result in a behemoth worth more than $50 billion based on the market value of all three automakers. Together, Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi would gain significant enough market share to beat both Toyota and Germany’s troubled Volkswagen.
Honda’s president, said that in order for all parties to be leaders in this transformation, it would be necessary to make bolder changes than just mere collaborations in specific areas. Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi earlier in 2024 agreed to share components for electric vehicles such as batteries, and to jointly research technology for self-driving vehicle designs.
Three Japanese auto-manufacturing giants combine in one electric car behemoth
Nissan has been struggling since a scandal that began with the arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018. Nissan has years of experience building batteries and electric vehicles, and gas-electric hybrid engines that could help Honda in developing its own EVs and next generation of hybrids.
The company is not going through its best time and recently reshuffled management as well as taking a 50 precent pay cut while throwing hands in the air and admitting responsibility for its poor financial performance.
The merger mirrors an industry-wide tendency towards consolidation and mergers, as Japanese companies need to keep up in an increasingly competitive and fast-changing market.
