Honda and Nissan Announce Plan To Merge by Mid-2026

TaiwanPlus News

Leading Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to merge by mid-2026. They believe the move will make them more competitive in the global auto market.

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00:00A historic announcement for Japan's motor industry.

00:04Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan

00:06have announced plans to merge.

00:08By coming together, they could become

00:10one of the world's largest car producers.

00:12The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding

00:31to formally begin discussing the merger,

00:33with another Japanese automaker, Mitsubishi,

00:36also considering joining the group.

00:38The move, Honda's chief executive said,

00:40is necessary to counter the rise of Chinese manufacturers

00:43in the automobile industry.

00:45The industry is increasingly moving

00:47towards electric vehicles,

00:48of which China has become the world's biggest producer.

00:51By joining forces, the two Japanese companies

00:53can become more competitive.

01:10The move has been viewed by some as a way to bail out Nissan,

01:16which has cut jobs and production

01:17as its sales have dropped.

01:19But Honda's chief executive dismissed those ideas,

01:22saying instead, it's a way for both companies

01:24to move towards becoming industry leaders.

01:27But Nissan's former chief executive, Carlos Ghosn,

01:29who fled to Lebanon after he was charged

01:31and arrested in Japan for financial crimes,

01:34has spoken out against the merger,

01:35saying it will not succeed

01:37because the companies are too similar.

01:39There's no complementarity.

01:40The two companies are two Japanese companies.

01:44They are strong in the same fields.

01:47They are weak in the same fields.

01:50Both of them have very developed technologies.

01:55From an industrial point of view,

01:56there is duplication everywhere.

01:59So, industrially, for me, it doesn't make sense.

02:02Regardless, the two companies say

02:04they aim to complete the merger by August 2026

02:07with the hope it will help them stay competitive

02:09on the global stage.

02:11Patrick Chen and Keynes Kuranta for Taiwan Plus.

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