Nissan/Honda Maxima.
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Nissan and Honda have both announced they have officially started merger talks.
This is not a merger yet, however, that’s how it starts. By “entering negotiation toward a merger”.
This of course would be great news for Nissan since some of their execs were mentioning just a few days ago how bad Nissan’s financial situation was. Nissan stock just went up by 22% today.
I am not sure what is the current state of Nissan’s partnership with Renault and Mitsubishi, but it can’t be that great if they’re talking to Honda.
I am also not sure what Honda has to gain in this. And I’m not the only one since Honda shares went down almost 2% today. Honda and Nissan are in the same market, and they compete against each other. In the same way, their respective luxury brands, Acura and Infiniti, are also competitors.
The deal would create a holding company which would also include Mitsubishi since Nissan owns 24% of it.
While I do see the need for many car manufacturers to create partnerships with others, I just don’t see how positive that could be for Honda. Since they seem to be ahead of Nissan and Mitsubishi in every way.
Honda is hard at work on a series of new EVs based on the 00 series platform. Which will include a Honda Sedan and a new Acura SUV as soon as next year. This will probably be a more advanced platform than the one Nissan is currently using for the Ariya and the upcoming Leaf. And Honda does have hybrids as well.
Maybe the only reason for this is to lower costs against the Chinese competition around the world. Chinese manufacturers are now selling cheaper EVs in many countries and competing against them has proven to be unbelievably tough for most legacy brands.
One of the results of this upcoming merger could be a new Nissan Maxima, finally, one based on Honda’s new 00 Series sedan. (The illustration above shows what a near-future large Nissan EV sedan could look like.)
While Nissan has been unveiling many future EV sedan concepts, none of them have become production models, at least so far.
Let’s hope they all come out winners in this new chapter.
Renault owns less than 15% of Nissan currently and is no longer a controlling interest (since the end of last year – 2023). So, Nissan hasn’t really been on its own/uncontrolled by another entity for that long.
There are a few possible benefits, beyond technology sharing. One is a common supply chain strategy for common parts that we don’t normally see when we look under the hood. Belts, tubing, struts, tires etc… And, of course, maybe fewer people performing redundant work. The other thing is a strategy for Honda where Nissan more heavily targets the fleet/commercial buyers in rentals and larger van/trucks, leaving Honda its coveted spot in resale value by avoiding those markets and keeping its production tight with demand. Then there’s Mitsubishi… which is in markets Honda can’t seem to crack, like Australia.
For all the people complaining about how Nissan CVT reliability will affect Honda, I have to say that the problems have largely been addressed by Nissan engineers since Ghosn left the company. I wouldn’t be afraid to buy a Nissan with CVT at this point, but ANY CVT (and I mean, true CVT – not the e-CVT that is a CVT in name only…think Honda and Toyota hybrids) that I’d purchase would get more a frequent service interval that is recommended – such as fluid changes and belt replacement. That’s any brand, including Honda, because the same is true of their transmissions. Want to keep them trouble free for 200k+ miles… change the transmission fluid! Ditto the oil! Don’t go by the manufacturers interval – that’s for “typical” vehicle life. You want better than typical vehicle life, so be a better owner. Its so much cheaper than buying another new ICE car. Less frustrating too.
What would a merger mean for the Honda – Sony partnership (AFEELA) announced at CES last year? From one year ago: “Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between the two Japanese companies, has revealed a prototype of a handsome new electric sedan that it plans to sell in the U.S. as soon as 2026.”
Why won’t Sony get in on this and it’ll be Honda/Nissan/Sony?! (And Mitsubishi)
Sony wants to get into automotive, they also would shore up capital requirements for an acquisition-style merger. They are also already tied up with Honda for the Afeela lineup.
What does Nissan have that Honda would want? Easy… trucks. Nissan has trucks, Honda doesn’t. Like em or not, trucks are still a big market. Also the EV’s, Nissan has EV’s out now using in house tech while Honda’s EV is a GM and their in-house tech is a way off still. Nissan and Honda are already tied up in EV’s, so why not expand upon that? As for hybrids, Nissan does offer hybrids called e-power in markets outside the United States that is said to be a good system, so why not share some hybrid tech with each other? I like Nissan and I for one hope Nissan survives. The one thing I do see coming regardless of any possible merger and sooner rather than later is the death of Infiniti. I don’t think Infiniti makes it past 2025.
Hondatsun