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Transportation Businesses

Nissan and Honda Agree To Merge (msn.com) 123

Honda sketched plans for a drawn-out deal that amounts to a takeover of Nissan in all but name, as Japan's automakers struggle to keep up in an increasingly competitive global car industry. From a report: The two announced a tentative agreement Monday to set up a joint holding company that will aim to list shares in August 2026. While their executives called the transaction a merger, Honda will take the lead in forming the new entity and nominate a majority of its directors.

Nissan's partner Mitsubishi may also participate in the deal. Honda and Nissan both are having trouble contending with ascendant domestic automakers in China, which surpassed Japan as the world's largest car-exporting nation last year and is pulling further ahead in 2024. Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe spoke to the level of level of difficulty ahead for the companies when he said during a press conference that their goal is to be competitive by 2030.

Nissan and Honda Agree To Merge

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  • This mornings news says that Mitsubishi is joining this merger.
    This will either add weight to the sinking or ? help it float?

    • I for one, welcome our new HondaNissanMitsubishi overlords!

    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      In the US market, merging has-beens usually just makes a bigger has-been. Maybe Japan is different? We'll see...

      • by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @12:14PM (#65034721)
        I think we'll continue to see lots of consolidation in Japan going forward, because it's a rapidly shrinking nation [statista.com].
      • Honda is hardly a has-been, it's second only to Toyota In the small SUV space [goodcarbadcar.net]. The CR-V has been popular for a while.

        Now Nissan, there I'd agree it's kind of a has-been. I never hear anyone talking about them anymore.

        • Nissan was a pioneer in EVs with the Leaf, but unfortunately did not follow through with a more diversified EV portfolio. Now they have been left behind.
          None of these Japanese car companies merging or not, has made a serious effort in EVs. That's undoubtedly why some are struggling.

          • by samwichse ( 1056268 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @09:24PM (#65035873)

            They also clung to the "battery thermal management isn't necessary" bullshit long after it was obvious it was terrible for longevity. Pioneering the space, and giving yourself a bad name in the space simultaneously. Good move.

            I think their new SUV finally has a liquid-cooled battery. Only took them like... 15 years.

            • You don't need to tell me, I leased a 2012 Leaf. I returned it early. They should have put active cooling. And also ship a higher capacity battery. Still, it was a run car to drive. The range was just too limited. I switched to a 2015 Volt, which I still have. Post pandemic, I seldom use any gas. The engine maintenance ran twice in the last few months.

      • It depends on if they do it smartly. For example, they should keep all the Honda engineers, as they build quality products that last. Nissan does not, and has not for some time.

        However, Honda's styling has always been super conservative with a few exceptions, where Nissan is (for better or worse) more likely to take a risk on style and design. Sometimes that works out, and sometimes you get the Nissan Cube.

        If they can keep the reliability up (and drastically increase reliability for Nissan) then this cou

        • The only part that Nissan is worse at than Honda is the transmission. Their CVTs are trash. Everything else is fine, albeit not spectacular like it used to be. Yes the corrosion protection has gone downhill but have you seen a Honda lately?

          • They need to look at the Ratio Zero transmission, which is a geared CVT. It doesn't provide reverse, but it can do neutral to infinity. This ensures there is actual torque that can be handled by the CVT, and because the CVT is all gears and not belts, it should last significantly longer than the CVTs.

            There is always going EV + range extender as well, which greatly simplifies the drivetrains.

            • It's not necessarily true that gears will work better than a belt. Nissan has had a lot of trouble while Subaru with a chain cvt hasn't had an excessive amount of problems related to the mechanical parts.

              • It's not necessarily true that gears will work better than a belt. Nissan has had a lot of trouble while Subaru with a chain cvt hasn't had an excessive amount of problems related to the mechanical parts.

                As a Subaru owner, I think you might be wrong. After my CVT threw a dashboard full of engine codes about 100 miles out of warranty, Subaru told me to pound sand. It seems they said the same to lots of people, because my local transmission repair guy got 3-4 of these per week. He said it was quite the deal and felt Subaru should have done a recall, since it was the same part that cause the transmissions to fail catastrophically....

    • by rossdee ( 243626 )

      Is it just Mitsubishi's car division that is involved in this? They make a lot of other stuff besides cars.

  • Nissan (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @11:50AM (#65034625)

    Nissan being the Chrysler of Japan, will their quality improve or will Honda's tank as a result? I think Honda has been slipping lately in regards to quality.

    • by edis ( 266347 )

      Would be pity. My entity of Honda Jazz, purchased over 20 years ago brand new, was impressive hit of vehicle engineering. Still a keeper. Just bodywork could address slightly better our European challenges of weather. Layer or more of anti-corrosion purpose could be very meaningful. Anyway, Japanese engineering was top notch.

    • My question exactly. Hondas are high quality, Nissans are at the bottom of the heap. However, that may be because of penny-pinching.

    • Remember what happened to Mercedes Benz when they merged with Chrysler? Remember what was *supposed* to happen?
      History will repeat I think.

      • The T1N Dodge Sprinter wasn't a bad vehicle. The 5-banger was odd, but if one fixed the turbo resonator with a metal one, it could run on almost any jungle juice you could imagine (B100, etc.)

        Now the newer ones are a different story. Just like any Mercedes, it runs very well... when it runs. However, when it has issues, you pay Mercedes prices for parts and Mercedes prices for service.

    • I'm thinking the same thing. Of all the car makers, the most reliable I've had are Hondas, by far. Honda just knows how to do vehicles "right".

      I hope quality improves. In general, Japanese brands are known for their reliability [1], so Mitsubishi and Nissan being under the Honda umbrella may not be a bad thing, especially if car technologies like good hybrid drivetrains transfer over. It may also make a useful product line, for example a Nissan Titan with a hybrid system similar to the Ford F-150 PowerB

  • by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @12:11PM (#65034713)

    I know TFS says it will, but in business trust absolutely no one.

    If Nissan gets *any* control whatsoever, no matter how minor, it will be the end of Honda.

    And I don't want Honda to go away.

    I won't spill a single tear if Nissan dies, tho. They did this to themselves. Why should anyone step up to help them?

    • Most likely it was the government calling the shots to bail out / absorb Nissan, they have a history of doing such. I think Toyota was directed to do the same with Subaru years ago.
      • by shanen ( 462549 )

        As I noted in my earlier reply, Honda was not such a cooperative company. But maybe it's changed and is about to follow the government guidance the wrong way around?

        <sound of flushing>?

  • by toxonix ( 1793960 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @02:21PM (#65035057)

    What they should do is forgive Ghosn and beg him to come back to make them profitable again.
    He ripped out Nissan's cultural and traditional way of doing business and laid off about something like 20,000 workers. He went all management consultant on Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, but for a while there they all were really profitable. For a while. Then the deep cuts started showing, and none of them were building or innovating anything really exciting. Nissan/Infiniti in the US are seen as the worst current Japanese cars, with the lowest quality and the ugliest designs. It's kind of the Japanese version of Stellantis, which was also made profitable by closing plants, eliminating jobs and throwing quality out completely. That looks good on the books for the first 5 years, but eventually the whole thing needs saving again because unhappy workers don't make good products.

  • by ukoda ( 537183 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @04:07PM (#65035321) Homepage
    For several decades I have own Japanese cars and motorcycles but now I drive an American Tesla and ride a British OSET. You can put much of the blame for that on Toyota. Before buying a new car I asked Suzuki what year I could get a new BEV version of their Jimny, the answer was no plans, so I brought a Tesla. I asked Honda what year I could by a BEV motorcycle to replace my ICE Honda motorcycles, the answer was no plans, so I brought an OSET.

    When you look at why the Japanese are ignoring what customers like me have very specifically asked when we can have what we actually want, the blame fall on Toyota. Akio Toyoda has said I am wrong and I want an ICEV. My wallet has said fuck you if you don't want my money I will give it to someone who will give me what I actually want. Akio Toyoda and his head in the sand attitude to change has badly hurt the whole Japanese economy.

    I really hope this merger goes a head and is the first step that leads to breaking Akio Toyoda's control of Japan. Honestly I think the Japanese automotive market has already left it to long and will never be the major power house they once were. I hope I'm wrong but the signs are not looking good for Japan.
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Nissan was a pioneer of EV technology, but failed to keep developing it. Honda had a decent first EV but the follow up is a weird step backwards.

      The Japanese car industry in general has been slow to adopt EV technology, and is struggling to migrate supply chains. They invested a lot in hybrid systems and don't want to write that off.

      • by ukoda ( 537183 )
        I would agree with that. I think there is also a cultural issue too where as people can see the issues but won't call out people above them as they would see it as disrespectful or career ending.

        I suspect Akio means well and is worried about all the down chain suppliers that will be hurt by changing to BEVs but off shore buyers don't care.
        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          That's it, they have a big supply chain and much if it is going away as fossil engines do. The need to transition the supply chain is hurting them, while others just build new ones from scratch or are far more agile.

          It's a shame because the Ariya, for example, is a pretty good car.

    • by jonwil ( 467024 )

      Why exactly would the management at Honda, Nissan or Mitsubishi care what Akio Toyoda thinks any more than the management at General Motors cares what Jim Farley thinks?

  • will stop bullying the late Uzi Nissan to get the nissan.com domain?

  • First, they partner with General Motors to make an EV.
    Next, they merge with a crappy car manufacturer (Nissan).

    Shameful.

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