$54bn to stay out of Japan: The Honda x Nissan Merger
Honda and Nissan were eyeing the world’s third largest automotive company spot post their mega $54bn merger, the talks of which fell off in late February.
The new Nissan CEO is still positive about Honda.
Both the companies are supposedly gearing up to up their EV portfolio given the obvious competition from BYD and Tesla.
In India there exists an uncertainty around the operating model given the Nissan x Renault partnership and Mitsubishi x Citroen partnership.
Both Honda and Renault have been facing challenges in the country. Honda’s Greater Noida plant has been shut due to poor demand while Nissan that tried to balance through an export oriented model hasn’t fared well either.
Why does Honda really want to merge with Nissan?
Although the synergies stem from Honda’s expertise in hybrids and Nissan’s established EV infra - on paper it does not look like a merger of equals.
People believe that the agenda here is to save Nissan from a potential hostile takeover from Taiwan's Foxconn.
Japan’s ministry is trying to protect Japan’s automotive industry from foreign control and that is why Mitsubishi was also a party to the transaction.
With the merger off the table (for now), Nissan is left at a crossroads - will it stand on its own, find a new ally, or succumb to foreign control? The race for EV dominance isn’t waiting.
Source: TOI, Automotivedive, cleantechnica
Follow Pranjal Shukla and read more such insights at www.shuklapranjal.in
#hondanissanmerger #automotiveIndustry #EVInnovation #globalautomakers #electricvehicles #nissan #mitsubishi #honda #M&A #EV#automotive