AVONMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM – JANUARY 15: Recently imported brand new unregistered Honda cars are parked in a storage yard as they wait delivery to car dealerships at the Port of Bristol on January 15, 2025 near Bristol, England. The Nissan Motor Co, a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer and Honda – a Japanese public multinational conglomerate […][/caption]
A STRUGGLING major car brand is to work with a rival firm just months after “mega-merger” talks spectacularly collapsed.
An agreement between the two companies is in place after talks to form one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers fell apart earlier this year.
Nissan is to collaborate with rival firm Honda just months after failed merger talks[/caption]
The car firm are in talks to supply cars to Honda in the US[/caption]
Nissan is in talks to supply cars to Honda in the United States.
The company is considering making Honda pickup trucks at its Canton plant in Mississippi.
The plant currently builds the Nissan Frontier and was the previous home of the full-size Titan which ended production with the 2024 model last year.
It follows failed talks between Nissan and Honda to form the world’s third-largest automaker earlier this year.
But the two said they would keep up an agreement to work together in areas such as electric vehicles.
Nissan said in a statement on Friday that it had no additional updates, although it continues to work on projects with Honda.
They refused to comment on speculation but if the deal happens, it could benefit both Nissan and Honda.
Nissan’s Canton factory is currently operating at well below its production capacity.
So producing models for Honda could increase the plant’s output and profitability.
Honda would also be able to make new trucks in the United States that would help it evade Trump’s tariffs while also increasing domestic vehicle production.
And they could be built alongside some Mitsubishi models too.
In late May, Nissan confirmed that it was having discussions with Mitsubishi about producing cars in Canton, but a Nissan spokesperson said a final decision hadn’t been made.
The Sun also reported last week that they could even allow Foxconn to build electric vehicles at its Oppama plant in Japan to prevent its closure.
It would indicate that Nissan is aiming to increase production at its plants around the world.
The Sun reported in March how merger talks between Nissan and Honda were back on after collapsing in February, only to fail again.
New Nissan CEO, Ivan Espinosa, said the company were open to partnerships as it faces up to five simultaneous crises including a damaged brand, low morale, and the execution of a sweeping turnaround.
The carmaker’s troubles run deep, reporting a net loss of $4.5 billion in the financial year that ended in March and has been hit by dwindling sales as it contends with an ageing vehicle line-up.
With debts of around $4.8 billion, Espinosa unveiled a sweeping cost-cutting plan that included closing seven factories worldwide and a cut of 15% in the global workforce.
He laid out these “comeback” plans at Nissan’s annual general meeting in Tokyo last month.
Espinosa, who replaced Makoto Uchida as CEO in April, is a Nissan veteran, and all eyes are currently on him to revive the company.
The manufacturer’s struggles first began appearing in mid-2024 when it asked dealers in the US to begin selling its vehicles at a loss.
News then broke that Nissan and Honda were to expand their earlier partnership to work on electric vehicles and software alongside fellow manufacturer Mitsubishi.
But in November, Nissan dropped the bombshell announcement that some 9,000 employees globally would be laid off, along with the reduction of production.
By the end of 2024, some company executives had disclosed that the company had 12 to 14 months left to survive – a frightening prospect, with its best chance of continuing being a merger with another company.
In December, the CEOs of Nissan and Honda met for official talks and announced they would officially look to merge.
But these talks deteriorated in the new year as Nissan withdrew from the deal, following Honda’s proposal to make them a subsidiary.
Both manufacturers are facing strong competition from Chinese firms in addition to difficulties around tariffs between the US and Japan.
Nissan announced only last week that it had halted the production of three of its popular models at two of its major factories.
They also announced it will postpone the launch of its two new EV crossovers by nearly a year.
And to make things worse, the manufacturer has been forced to recall over 440,000 motors in the US because of defects that could lead to engine failure.
