Nissan and Honda have officially withdrawn their plans to merge into a single automaker, less than two months after confirming rumors that they were indeed seeking to join forces. In a statement, the companies said they “agreed to terminate” the memorandum of understanding they signed in December 2024. If they had done so, and also brought Nissan-controlled Mitsubishi on board, the net value of the new combination would have been about $50 billion.
The automakers said that their CEOs and other members of the management teams have discussed what they want to achieve through the merger, as well as the structures they would like to have in place after the integration. They explained that they considered various options when it came to the final structure of the combined company. Honda proposed several options, including the creation of a joint holding company in which the automaker would appoint the CEO and most of the directors. However, it also proposed a structure in which Honda would be the parent company and Nissan would be a subsidiary.
In early February, the Financial Times reported that Honda had presented a structure that would make Nissan its subsidiary as a take-it-or-leave-it proposal. Reportedly, the majority of Nissan’s board members rejected the proposal during the meeting, but Nissan decided to wait until mid-February to make an official statement. The automakers said they decided to end the talks “to prioritize speed of decision-making and implementation of management measures in an increasingly volatile market environment approaching the electrification era.” They also stated that they still plan to cooperate “in a strategic partnership aimed at the era of intelligence and electrified vehicles.”
