The announcement was intended to establish a historic alliance between the two great rivals of the Japanese car industry. But on Wednesday 5 February, the financial daily Nikkei revealed that Nissan had decided to terminate merger negotiations with Honda. This is a major blow to a project which, last December, seemed to be well on the way to completion.

The reason for the withdrawal? Several Japanese media outlets reported that Honda was considering acquiring Nissan’s shares in order to transform it into a mere subsidiary, a prospect that was unacceptable to Nissan. Anxious to preserve its independence, Nissan preferred to cut short the discussions.

The discussions, which began in December, aimed at creating a joint holding company with a single stock market listing. The aim was to combine the strengths of Honda and Nissan to better negotiate the strategic shift to electric vehicles, a market dominated by the American company Tesla and Chinese manufacturers, led by BYD. It’s a segment in which Japanese manufacturers are lagging far behind.

For Nissan, such a merger seemed like a lifeline. Indebted, the group had published alarming results for the period July-September 2024 and had announced the loss of 9,000 jobs worldwide as well as a reduction in its production capacity.

The publication of this information sent shockwaves through the financial markets. Nissan’s share price fell by 4.86%, before the stock market operator suspended trading in the stock pending “confirmation” of the press reports. Conversely, Honda shares jumped by 12%.

Neither manufacturer, contacted by AFP, wished to comment on the situation.

This article was originally published in French.