Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. NSANY and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC are contemplating a business partnership to develop economical electric vehicles (EVs) and compete with their China-based rivals. The collaboration may include the development of a new EV platform.
Nissan is considering joint procurement for certain parts and component sharing with Honda to reduce the cost of their respective EVs. The discussion between the automakers is still in the early stages and Honda’s take on the partnership is unclear.
The rising trend of collaboration among automakers would become common as they try to remain on par with EV giants like BYD Company Limited BYDDY.
Per the sources at Nissan, the company is planning to discuss joint battery and vehicle development with Honda.
NSANY is exploring the option of transitioning to a common EV powertrain through a collaborative purchasing agreement with Honda. Additionally, the parties could potentially collaborate on the design and development of a shared EV platform.
The Yokohama-based automaker intends to lower the prices of EVs as it seeks to establish itself as an affordable EV provider like BYDDY.
BYD Company has a significant edge over its competitors for having an in-house manufacturing unit for all vehicle parts. It declared a liberation battle against internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by reducing the prices of EVs and launching an electric car worth $9,700, competitive with the prices of ICE vehicles.
BYDDY debuted in Japan in 2023. In January 2024, it accounted for 20% of Japan’s EV imports. China’s rapid growth in the EV sector pushed the nation ahead of Japan, making the country the world’s top vehicle exporter last year.
After being perceived as an EV pioneer with the launch of LEAF in 2010, NSANY is now struggling to retain its market share. After a rough start, Nissan Ariya production is finally running steadily at Honda’s intelligent factory. In an effort to regain its market share in the United States, the automaker reduced the price of the 2024 Ariya by $6,000 to $39,590.
In Europe, Nissan has already formed an alliance with Renault on EVs. Micra, NSANY’s next EV, will have the same architecture as the new Renault Five and both the vehicles will be manufactured in the same facility in northern France. Nissan currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The company will make an investment of $656.64 million in Ampere, a new EV entity of Renault. However, last year, the automakers reduced the scope of the alliance to make room for an agile partnership.
The 2024 Honda Prologue, HMC’s first electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), will have a starting price of $47,400 in the United States. The SUV, which is based on GM’s Ultium platform, will have a starting price of less than $40,000, including an EV tax credit.
Honda, which is reluctant to partner with other automakers, has been working on the development of EVs with General Motors and Sony Group.
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