Car manufacturers Honda and Nissan want to merge in 2026

Honda and Nissan are in talks to merge in 2026. The car manufacturers announced this today. The merger creates the third largest car group in the world in terms of car sales, after Toyota and Volkswagen.

The idea is that a merger will allow Honda and Nissan to better compete with Chinese manufacturers. They appear to be better and faster at developing electric cars.

“The emergence of Chinese car manufacturers and new players in the market has significantly changed the automotive industry,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said today about the proposed merger. “We must build the capacity to fight them by 2030 or we will be defeated.”

If the merger of Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, with Nissan, the No. 3, goes through, it will mark the biggest restructuring in the global auto industry since 2021. That year, Fiat-Chrysler and PSA Peugeot merged to form the company Stellantis.

The smaller Mitsubishi Motors, of which Nissan is the largest shareholder, may also participate in the merger. The car company will make a decision about this at the end of January.

The top executives of the three car manufacturers held a joint press conference in Tokyo. Honda and Nissan are aiming for a combined turnover of 30 trillion yen (183 billion euros) with the possible merger.

Last Wednesday, the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported that Honda and Nissan were talking about a merger. The message was not contradicted by the two automakers at the time.

Someone with knowledge of the negotiations then said against it the Financial Times that a merger could encounter political resistance in Japan. There is a chance that many jobs will be lost.

Nissan already presented plans last month to reduce production by 20 percent. An announced reorganization at Nissan would cost 9,000 jobs.