The car crisis continues to spread. After the announced job cuts at Volkswagen and the fall of car king Carlos Tavares at Stellantis, the next big bang is now coming from Japan. Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi signed an agreement in principle for merger talks on Monday: Three of the largest manufacturers in the auto nation want to take refuge in a merger in order to survive in the increasingly fierce competition. It would be the largest merger in the industry since the $52 billion pact between PSA and Fiat Chrysler that created Stellantis three years ago. Nissan in particular has come under the wheels at a rapid pace this year. The group had placed great emphasis on the development of electric cars. But in China the Japanese cannot compete against the strong domestic competition from BYD and Co. In America and Europe, customers have recently quickly lost their interest in purely electric cars following the government-sponsored peak in demand. Many people prefer to drive hybrids; but Nissan is bare bones when it comes to this technology. The result was a 90 percent drop in profits in the first half of the year. Since the spring, Japan’s car companies have been trying to make up for the gap in electromobility by joining forces and unusual collaborations. The government in Tokyo welcomes and promotes such collaborations so that the industry that is vital to Japan does not lose out. The industry leader Toyota has also gathered the smaller manufacturers Mazda, Suzuki and Subaru to research autonomous driving. More on the topic A merger of Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi would now be a far-reaching next step. The combined sales figures would make the new group number three in the world after Toyota and Volkswagen. Not least in view of possible punitive tariffs from Donald Trump, it could be advantageous if the three partners could network their production facilities in the United States in the future and thus utilize them better. It is questionable what such a step would do for the alliance of Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault would mean. Carlos Ghosn had brought the former bankruptcy candidate Nissan back into shape in the French-Japanese love triangle. But his successors loosened the marriage contract in the spring anyway.
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