Japan Looked For Nissan-Honda Merger To Create a National Giant 

According to the Financial Times, Japanese government figures tried to bring Nissan and Honda together for merger talks this year, in a sign of growing concern in Tokyo over the future of the country’s once mighty car sector.

The suggestion to create a national champion was first made to the companies at the tail-end of 2019, according to three people familiar with the matter, amid fears that Japan’s vast car-manufacturing base was losing its edge as the shift towards self-driving electric vehicles unleashed greater competition.  

The independent future of Honda, the country’s third-largest carmaker with annual sales of 4.8 million vehicles, has come under particular scrutiny in recent years as consolidation has accelerated elsewhere.

But the ambitious project fizzled before it even began, after both sides immediately rejected the idea and the plan became buried in the chaos caused by COVID-19. Rising demand for electric cars and other technology spending has piled pressure on carmakers everywhere to bulk up through mergers or alliances, even before the pandemic plunged the industry into crisis.

Full Content: Financial Times

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