The business idyll between Honda and Nissan It comes to an end just two months after the start of conversations for a future fusion. In the press release issued by both companies argue that “Nissan and Honda terminate memorandum of understanding to consider business integration”. They also explain that “Both companies, including executive directors, have analyzed and considered the market environment, the objectives of business integration and management strategies and structures subsequent to integration.”
They conclude: “In addition, taking into account the importance of business integration, both companies have carefully consulted various stakeholders.” In short, in just one year of conversations, it is assumed that the objectives of both groups are not in the established initial line.
Remember that Nissan and Honda signed a memorandum of understanding on March 15, 2024 on a strategic association for the era of intelligence and electrification of vehicles.
Honda’s plans have not finally liked Nissan
Since then, the two companies have maintained conversations aimed at collaborating in various fields. Everything indicates that the conditions presented by Honda have not done too much grace to the mandamases of Nissan. The signing of the golden wing, apparently, intended to turn Nissan into a subsidiary of his company.
The visible head of the latter, Makoto Uchida, would have communicated Toshihiro Mibe, general director of Honda, the refusal to accept his final proposal. If we take an eye on some of the conditions signed in the last December memorandum, the objectives to be met by both brands passed by:
- Scale advantages through the standardization of vehicle platforms
- Improvement of development capacities and cost synergies by integrating R&D functions
- Optimization of manufacturing systems and facilities
- Strengthening of competitive advantages throughout the supply chain by integrating purchasing functions
- Obtain costs of costs through improvements in operational efficiency
- Acquisition of scale advantages through integration in sales financing functions
- Creation of a talent base for intelligence and electrification
Similarly, the schedule for business integration was established as follows.
| Resolution of the Board of Directors | December 23, 2024 |
| Mou execution | December 23, 2024 |
| Execution of a definitive agreement on business integration (including the Action Transfer Plan) |
June 2025 (planned) |
| Extraordinary Shareholders Assembly of Companies (Resolutions to approve the transmission of actions) |
April 2026 (planned) |
| Exclusion from the TSE list | End of July-August of 2026 (planned) |
| Effective date of the transfer of shares | August 2026 (planned) |
The ultimate statement ends up explaining that: “During the conversations between the two companies, several options were considered in relation to the structure of business integration. Honda proposed to change the structure of establishing a joint holding company, in which Honda would designate the majority of directors and the executive director based on a joint transfer of actions, as initially described in the memorandum of understanding, to a structure in which Honda would be the parent company and Nissan the subsidiary through an exchange of shares. ”
Concludes: “As a result of these discussions, both companies concluded that, to prioritize the speed in decision -making and the execution of management measures in an increasingly volatile market environment for the era of electrification, the most appropriate would be cease discussions and terminate the Mou. In the future, Nissan and Honda will collaborate within the framework of a strategic association oriented to the era of intelligence and electrified vehicles, striving to create new value and maximize the corporate value of both companies. ”
