Back in December 2024, Honda and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding that led to the possibility of a merger between the two companies. However, in February 2025, that deal appeared to be off, with Honda wanting to take overall control and make Nissan a subsidiary.
That wasn’t something that Nissan wanted, nor did it want the job cuts and plant closures that Honda was proposing. Things appeared to have changed, however, because there is now talk of a different kind of linkup between the two brands.
In a recent statement, Honda’s CEO and president has stated that the two companies are quite close to an announcement, although this is very different from the merger talks that were originally proposed. Both sides, however, seem happy to work very closely on collaborations, and it sounds as if the deal is very far along at the time of writing.
Nissan and Honda are two automotive giants, but Chinese manufacturers have been upping the ante recently to push other manufacturers harder than ever before. So a collaboration between two of the world’s biggest automotive companies could be exactly what they need to take the fight to them.
What We Know About the Honda and Nissan Deal
Honda boss Toshihiro Mibe spoke to shareholders of Honda in Tokyo at the start of July, and questions surrounding the restructuring of its four-wheel business were brought up. Nikkei Asia reported that Mibe directly referenced the potential Nissan partnership during this meeting.
“We are proceeding with each project in a win-win relationship,” Mibe said of the collaboration. This comes after Honda massively cut back on its electric car plans, and posted a first-ever yearly net loss. Part of the deal involves standardizing electronic control units (ECUs) for new vehicles, with Mitsubishi also involved in that part of the plan. This would make collaborations between Honda and Nissan easier.
According to Nikkei Asia, there are still issues to resolve, such as development funds and other terms of the deal. But the conclusion of the talks is expected within weeks. Should it come to pass, then Nissan and Honda could begin releasing vehicles with the shared ECUs as early as 2029 or 2030. But what other areas are we likely to see the two companies collaborate on?
What the Deal Might Mean for the Automotive Giants
In August 2024, Honda and Nissan said their deal would cover five areas. While those talks fell through, it gives us some idea as to what we can expect. A sharing of common parts is certainly not out of the question, and vehicles could be jointly developed with the two companies producing their own versions of certain cars. Think of the Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ, broadly the same cars but rebadged and redesigned for the respective manufacturers.
One stumbling block could be Renault. It holds a 15 percent voting stake in Nissan, and it was a hurdle in the previous talks with Honda. This flared up again after it influenced the rejection to appoint Motoo Nagai, from the Mizuho Financial Group, as an outside director at Nissan. “This showed that if Renault opposes something we want to do, it might not be realized,” a Nissan insider said. So while a deal does seem close, there could be a last-minute spanner in the works.