Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan are reportedly in merger talks to form a holding company, potentially integrating Mitsubishi Motors to compete with industry giants like Toyota and Volkswagen. CNBC reports: The combined Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi enterprise would equate to more than 8 million vehicle sales annually, according to Nikkei. That would place the company among the world's largest automakers, but still below fellow Japanese automaker Toyota Motor, at 11.2 million in 2023, as well as German automaker Volkswagen, which last year reported sales of 9.2 million vehicles.
The merger report follows the two Japanese automakers entering into a strategic partnership earlier this year on shared automotive components and software. Such a tie-up would be the largest automotive industry merger since Fiat Chrysler joined with France-based PSA Groupe to form Stellantis in January 2021. Honda and Nissan said in similar statements: "The reported content was not released by our company," Honda said. "As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other's strengths. We will inform our stakeholders of any updates at an appropriate time."
