Honda, Nissan aim to close merger talks in June 2025, list holding company in August 2026

Honda, Nissan aim to close merger talks in June 2025, list holding company in August 2026

Honda and Nissan on December 23 announced signing of basic agreement to consider integration.

Honda, Japan's second-biggest automaker after Toyota, has a market capitalisation of more than $40 billion, while third-ranked Nissan is valued at about $10 billion.

The companies aim to set up holding company in August 2026 and aim to conclude talks around June 2025.

Both companies' shares will be delisted around July-end to August 2026. The holding company could be listed in August 2026. The two companies would aim for combined sales of 30 trillion yen ($191 billion) and operating profit of more than 3 trillion yen through the potential merger, they said in a statement.

Honda will appoint the majority of the holding company's board.

Nissan Director, President, CEO and Representative Executive Officer Makoto Uchida said: "Today marks a pivotal moment as we begin discussions on business integration that has the potential to shape our future. If realized, I believe that by uniting the strengths of both companies, we can deliver unparalleled value to customers worldwide who appreciate our respective brands. Together, we can create a unique way for them to enjoy cars that neither company could achieve alone."

Honda Director and Representative Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said: “Creation of new mobility value by bringing together the resources including knowledge, talents, and technologies that Honda and Nissan have been developing over the long years is essential to overcome challenging environmental shifts that the auto industry is facing. Honda and Nissan are two companies with distinctive strengths. We are still at the stage of starting our review, and we have not decided on a business integration yet, but in order to find a direction for the possibility of business integration by the end of January 2025, we strive to be the one and only leading company that creates new mobility value through chemical reaction that can only be driven through synthesis of the two teams."

The integration of the two storied Japanese brands would mark the biggest reshaping in the global auto industry since Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA merged in 2021 to create Stellantis in a $52 billion deal.'

Last month, Nissan announced a plan to cut 9,000 jobs and 20% of its global production capacity after sales plunged in the key China and US markets. Honda also reported worse-than-expected earnings due to declining sales in China.

Like other foreign carmakers, Honda and Nissan have lost ground in the world's biggest market China amid the rise of BYD and other local brands that make electric and hybrid cars loaded with innovative software.

With inputs from Reuters