Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge, creating world’s third-largest automaker
Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to work toward a merger, forming the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels.
The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses.
Honda’s president, Toshihiro Mibe, said Honda and Nissan will pursue unifying their operations under a joint holding company. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company. The aim is to have a formal merger agreement by June and to complete the deal and list the holding company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by August 2026, he said.
No dollar value was given and the formal talks are just starting, Mibe said.
There are “points that need to be studied and discussed,” he said. “Frankly speaking, the possibility of this not being implemented is not zero.”
Japanese automakers lagging behind Tesla, Chinese rivals
Automakers in Japan have lagged behind their big rivals in electric vehicles — namely Tesla and China’s BYD — and are trying to cut costs and make up for lost time.
China’s auto sector has seen a surge of exports in the last several years, with one industry group claiming that it had overtaken Japan as the world’s top auto exporter in 2023. In China’s domestic auto market, the world’s largest, hybrids and EVs accounted for more than half of car sales this year.
The Japanese government has been sounding the alarm on China’s existential threat to its auto industry since at least 2019, when it reportedly urged Honda and Nissan to meet and discuss potential consolidation. A merger could result in a behemoth worth more than $50 billion US based on the market capitalization of all three automakers.
Together, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi would gain scale to compete with Toyota Motor Corp. and with Germany’s Volkswagen AG. Toyota has technology partnerships with Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp.
Planned merger a ‘desperate move’
News of a possible merger surfaced earlier this month, with unconfirmed reports saying that the talks on closer collaboration partly were driven by aspirations of Taiwan iPhone maker Foxconn to tie up with Nissan by buying shares from the Japan’s company’s other alliance partner, Renault SA of France.
Nissan’s CEO Makoto Uchida said there had been no direct approach to his company from Foxconn. He also acknowledged that Nissan’s situation was “severe.”
Canada is stepping in line with the U.S. and imposing 100 per cent tariffs on all electric vehicles coming from China to combat the “unfair advantage” it has in the global marketplace. About That producer Lauren Bird explores why North America is closing the door on a massive source of cheap electric vehicles and why experts say consumers will pay the price.
CORRECTION: At 1:47 in this video, we state that the cheapest Tesla on the market as of Aug. 28, 2024, in the U.S. is a Model Y for about $45,000 USD. In fact, the cheapest Tesla you can buy in the U.S. without a federal tax credit is the Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive for $38,990.
Even after a merger, Toyota, which rolled out 11.5 million vehicles in 2023, would remain the leading Japanese automaker. If they join, the three smaller companies would make about eight million vehicles. In 2023, Honda made four million and Nissan produced 3.4 million. Mitsubishi Motors made just over one million.
Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi announced in August that they would share components for electric vehicles, like batteries, and jointly research software for autonomous driving to adapt better to dramatic changes centered around electrification, following a preliminary agreement between Nissan and Honda set in March.
Nissan has struggled following a scandal that began with the arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 on charges of fraud and misuse of company assets, allegations that he denies. He eventually was released on bail and fled to Lebanon.
Speaking Monday to reporters in Tokyo via a video link, Ghosn derided the planned merger as a “desperate move.”
Nissan has years of experience building batteries, EVs
From Nissan, Honda could get truck-based body-on-frame large SUVs such as the Armada and Infiniti QX80 that Honda doesn’t have, with large towing capacities and good off-road performance, Sam Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions, told The Associated Press.
Nissan also has years of experience building batteries and electric vehicles, and gas-electric hybrid powertrains that could help Honda in developing its own EVs and next generation of hybrids, he said.
But the company said in November that it was slashing 9,000 jobs, or about six per cent of its global work force, and reducing its global production capacity by 20 per cent after reporting a quarterly loss of 9.3 billion yen (around $85 million Cdn).
It recently reshuffled its management and Makoto Uchida, its chief executive, took a 50 per cent pay cut to take responsibility for the financial woes, saying Nissan needed to become more efficient and respond better to market tastes, rising costs and other global changes.
“We anticipate that if this integration comes to fruition, we will be able to deliver even greater value to a wider customer base,” Uchida said.
Fitch Ratings recently downgraded Nissan’s credit outlook to “negative,” citing worsening profitability, partly due to price cuts in the North American market. But it noted that it has a strong financial structure and solid cash reserves that amounted to 1.44 trillion yen ($13 billion Cdn).
Nissan’s share price also has fallen to the point where it is considered something of a bargain.
Merger reflects industry-wide trend toward consolidation
On Monday, NIssan’s Tokyo-traded shares gained 1.6 per cent. They jumped more than 20 per cent after news of the possible merger broke last week.
Honda’s shares surged 3.8 per cent. Honda’s net profit slipped nearly 20 per cent in the first half of the April-March fiscal year from a year earlier, as sales suffered in China.
The merger reflects an industry-wide trend toward consolidation.
At a routine briefing Monday, Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said he would not comment on details of the automakers’ plans, but said Japanese companies need to stay competitive in the fast changing market.
“As the business environment surrounding the automobile industry largely changes, with competitiveness in storage batteries and software is increasingly important, we expect measures needed to survive international competition will be taken,” Hayashi said.
Published at Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:19:48 +0000
Panama president hits back at Trump over canal U.S. takeover comments
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened Sunday to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage — comments that drew a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona on Sunday, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the “wrong hands,” warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage.
China does not control or administer the canal, but a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has long managed two ports located on the Caribbean and Pacific entrances to the canal.
The president-elect’s comments came hours after he levelled a similar threat against Panama in a post on Truth Social on Saturday night.
“Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said on Sunday at AmericaFest, an annual event organized by Turning Point, an allied conservative group. “Because we’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else.”
Trump’s comments were an exceedingly rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory.
It also underlines an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair,” Trump said.
“It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions. You get to treat us fairly, and they haven’t treated us fairly.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question.”
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In a recorded message released by Panamanian leader Mulino on Sunday afternoon, he said Panama’s independence was non-negotiable and China had no influence on the canal’s administration. He also defended the passage rates Panama charged, saying they were not set “on a whim.”
“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging [to Panama],” Mulino said in the statement, which was released on X, formerly Twitter.
Several other Panamanian politicians, including members of the opposition, also took to social media to criticize Trump’s statements.
The United States largely built the canal and administered territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the U.S. and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The U.S. handed over control of the passage in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
The waterway, which allows up to 14,000 ships to cross per year, accounts for 2.5 per cent of global seaborne trade and is critical to U.S. imports of autos and commercial goods by container ships from Asia, and for U.S. exports of commodities, including liquefied natural gas.
It is not clear how Trump would seek to regain control over the canal, and he would have no recourse under international law if he decided to make a play for the passage.
This is not the first time Trump has openly considered territorial expansion.
In recent weeks, he has repeatedly mused about turning Canada into a U.S. state, though it is unclear how serious he is about the matter.
During his first term, Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. He was publicly rebuffed by Danish authorities before any conversations could take place.
Published at Fri, 01 Nov 2024 08:11:21 +0000
