Nissan Motor Corporation CEO Makoto Uchida did not hold back when he stated the reasons for the cancellation of the brand’s planned merger with Honda. While the executive acknowledged that Nissan and Honda will collaborate through other means, one of the major reasons the deal fell through had to do with control.
Before the financial report, Uchida opened the press conference by addressing the collapse of the merger.
“Nissan and Honda began discussions in the interaction preparation committee, and we reconfirmed that significant synergies could be expected as part of the initial stage of considerations. However, during this process, Honda proposed to change the integration’s structure, different from the framework agreed in the MoU to a complete acquisition to Nissan through a stock exchange,” said Uchida.
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According to the CEO, Honda wanted an acquisition to realize the synergies much more quickly. He added that the offer wasn’t rejected from the get-go and was “carefully and sincerely considered” during Nissan’s board meetings. So, what was the sentiment?
“With the proposal suggesting that Nissan would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda, we were not confident that our autonomy would be preserved, or that Nissan’s potential could truly be maximized. This led us to ultimately reject the new proposal,” Uchida explained.
With that, Nissan effectively confirmed reports of Honda’s plan to take over its rival and, quite possibly, gain full control down the line. But while the planned merger will no longer push through, the two automakers, along with Mitsubishi, will continue to collaborate in other fields. A prior agreement will enable collaboration for technologies and the development of electric and electrified vehicles as well as in-car technologies.
As for a partnership, Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn has stated its intent to work with Nissan should the latter agree. Unlike Honda, Foxconn has explicitly stated that it has no plans of buying Nissan stock. As mentioned by chairman Young Liu, “Purchasing [Nissan’s] shares is not our aim; our aim is cooperation.”
He added that the company has no intention of selling cars, instead focusing on providing design, engineering, and manufacturing services within the automotive sector.
