Honda-Nissan merger talks: No impact on partnerships with Renault, GM

Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Corp today announced that they are in discussion of a potential merger by creating a joint holding company. The merger talks, however, are unlikely to have any impact on Nissan’s partnership with French automaker Renault SA and Honda’s partnership with General Motors, according to the companies’ senior executives. 

“Nissan’s existing partnership with Renault will continue independently of the Honda integration talks. If there are promising opportunities for collaboration involving Renault, Nissan will consider them as part of its broader strategic goals,” Nissan President and Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida said.

Nissan and Renault are part of the strategic Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which is more than two decades old. The partnership leverages each other’s strengths to improve the companies’ competitiveness and profitability. The companies share platforms, plants, powertrains and batteries. Around 60% of their models benefit from common platforms.

Mitsubishi, however, is involved in the talks to explore participation or involvement in the consideration of business integration. Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi have also signed an MoU for Mitsubishi to explore participation, involvement, and synergy sharing in the joint holding company.

On the other hand, Honda has a partnership with General Motors. Both companies, in 2020, agreed to jointly develop two all-new electric vehicles for Honda based on GM’s flexible global electric vehicle platform and manufacture them at GM plants in North America. Both have tied up to jointly work on fuel cells.

“Honda does not have direct ties with Renault, and its discussions with Nissan do not interfere with Nissan's ongoing partnership agreements. Additionally, Honda’s collaborations with General Motors remain unaffected,” Honda President and Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said. 

Uchida and Mibe were speaking while announcing the signing of MoU between Honda and Nissan to formally begin the merger talks. The companies will explore the possibility of participation and involvement in sharing with the business integration, with an aim to conclude the talks by the end of January 2025. 

The companies expect to sign a definitive agreement in June 2025. Once the definitive agreement is concluded, the holding company will be incorporated and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in August, while the two subsidiaries will be delisted.