Japan is trying to create a second heavyweight in the global car market through the merger and cooperation of Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi. According to the combination of the current half-yearly data, a car company combined from the previously independent companies would be the third largest car company in the world with a combined turnover of 110 billion euros and a combined sales of 3.79 million cars. In front of them are Toyota Motor (4.56 million cars) and Volkswagen (4.34 million cars), followed by the Korean group Hyundai/Kia (3.47 million) and Europe’s second largest car company Stellantis (2.93 million). Another step up The path to a three-way partnership is said to be an agreement signed on Monday between Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. The three companies had already announced at the beginning of August that they had agreed to examine strategic cooperation. Meanwhile, a plan for a joint umbrella company for Honda and Nissan has been developed. The two car companies also agreed on Monday with Mitsubishi Motors that the potential third partner would examine by the end of January whether and how it wanted to merge or cooperate with the other two. The president and boss of Mitsubishi Motors, Takao Kato, said in a press release According to him, the merger of Nissan and Honda will create synergies even faster at a time of change in the auto industry. This also means additional opportunities for cooperation projects with Mitsubishi Motors. The company will now examine possible forms of cooperation that would enable synergies and the best use of the strengths of the partner companies. Overcoming weaknesses together. Mergers between Japanese companies have so far been hindered, among other things, by the importance of company culture and the emphasis on company tradition and history. But when we look at the stormy times on the global car market, with the transformation to electric drives and the strengthening of Chinese competitors, the three Japanese manufacturers, which have so far been in the middle or, like Mitsubishi, at the bottom of the global car league, seem to have little future prospects. In addition, the impending inauguration of American President Donald Trump may also have triggered fears about the Japanese’s most important car market, the United States. A merger is made easier by the fact that there is now a clear pecking order between the companies: Honda is taking a leading role, as the largest and with an operating return of just under 6.9 percent, also profitable manufacturers. Nissan is not only smaller in comparison, but apparently also crisis-hit. In the first six months of the 2024/2025 financial year (balance sheet date is March 31), operating income shrank to just 0.5 percent of sales. Mitsubishi Motors is currently as profitable as Honda, but with half-year sales of 408,000 cars it has no chance of positioning itself in the global car market. A merger could help all three car manufacturers to overcome weaknesses: only Nissan has a significant market presence in China . Mitsubishi Motors has completely abandoned the market. Nissan, for example, was one of the pioneers in the electric market with its Leaf model, but was unable to benefit from it. Nissan currently only offers a single electric car in Europe, as does Honda. Mitsubishi Motors does not offer an electric model, but like Honda it does offer one with a plug-in hybrid drive. A few years ago, Mitsubishi actually decided to withdraw from Europe, but is now offering two Renault models with its own brand emblem under the model names Colt and ASX in order to complete the model range. Possible obstacle: Renault All three manufacturers were on the German one Market during the first eleven months of 2024 was rather marginal with a total market share of 2.4 percent. Honda only had a share of 0.3 percent, Mitsubishi Motors 1.0 percent and Nissan 1.1 percent. All three only offer a small range of models in Germany, but some with very original models or technical concepts. Both Honda and Nissan offer special hybrid technology, with an electric drive for the car and a combustion engine that charges the car battery. More on the subject Hurdles to the merger and cooperation project can still arise due to objections from the Renault Group. Until recently, it was a cooperation partner of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, until Nissan insisted on loosening Renault’s control over its own company. Renault still directly and indirectly holds 35.7 percent of the shares in Nissan, worth around 1.8 billion euros. The news came from Renault headquarters on Monday that they were continuing to work on cooperation projects for models and would study all options as a shareholder.
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