The proposed merger between Honda and Nissan is officially dead. The plan, announced in late December, would have created the world’s third-largest automaker, displacing Volkswagen Group from the bronze on the podium. But it was also never quite seen as a merger of equals—many suspected this was a Honda takeover of beleaguered Nissan at the behest of the Japanese government.
Nissan is already part of a triple-alliance, together with Mitsubishi and France’s Renault. Although Mitsubishi considered joining the Honda-Nissan merger, that was old news by late January.
That alliance might have been part of the problem. Although not an actual merger, the car companies involved each own stakes in the other—in Renault’s case, it owns 37.5 percent of Nissan. Honda would have liked Nissan to buy out Renault’s stake, presumably not keen on such a significant chunk of the company under foreign ownership.
Source : https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/02/the-honda-nissan-merger-is-dead/
