The closing of 2024 had a news in the automotive industry world that shook the market: Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi They signed a memorandum of understanding to advance a possible merger that would result in the third largest automobile group on the planet behind Toyota and the Volkswagen Group.
Days after the announcement it was learned that Honda was pressuring Nissan to buy the part owned by renaultwith the idea that there would be no non-Japanese participation in the resulting group.
According to the Bloomberg agency, Honda would have asked Nissan to buy the shares that Renault has in them, that is, 35.7%, which is equivalent to about 3.6 billion dollars.
According to Japanese media, Mitsubishi Motors has decided not to be part of the proposed alliance between Honda and Nissan. It would choose to remain independent and focus on strengthening its presence in the Southeast Asian market.
The news comes after weeks of speculation about the possible integration of the three companies into a giant holding company and caused a drop of up to 9% at the start of stock market operations this Friday.
Pressure from Honda to leave the diamond firm out of the game could have influenced Mitsubishi Motors’ decision.
It is not the first controversy surrounding this possible merger. On December 26, Carlos Ghosnwho was head of Nissan-Renault, gave an interview about it to CNBC, with harsh criticism of the possible merger.
The news about Mitsubishi was published by the Yomiuri Shimbun and replicated by Japan Times.
Hours later, the firm issued a statement in which it neither confirms nor denies what it will do. “Today there was a report in the Yomiuri Shimbun media about the management of Mitsubishi Motor regarding possible participation or involvement in the commercial integration between Nissan and Honda. We would like to point out that Mitsubishi Motors has not disclosed such information. We are studying several options and no conclusion has been reached. We will inform you, in due course, if there is any information to pass on.”
The move could make sense if approached from the point of view of the existing relationship between Mitsubishi and Renault. Currently, both brands collaborate to the point that two models of the Japanese company are, basically, clones of the French one, as is the case of the Mitsubishi Colt and the Mitsubishi ASX, which are Renault Clio and Renault Captur with changed logos.
The focus in that direction could be a response to the difficulties Honda and Nissan face in China, where their sales have declined in recent years.
Strong competition in the Asian giant, where brands like BYD have quickly gained ground, left Japanese companies with a pressing need to restructure their operations.
When news broke of the possible merger between Honda and Nissan at the end of last year, Mitsubishi issued a statement indicating that it was going to evaluate its possible entry into the joint venture that will result from this alliance, a decision that it would make before the end of January. Now, according to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri, which cites unidentified sources, he is choosing to stay on the sidelines.
The company led by Takao Kato could announce its opinion during the presentation of the results of the third fiscal quarter (the year in Japan is counted from April 1 to March 31), in an event scheduled for February 3.
Honda and Nissan announced their plans to merge under a joint holding company with a view to achieving revenues of more than 173.67 billion euros and an operating profit of more than 17.37 billion. This agreement seeks to strengthen the position of the companies that form it, in an industry dominated by giants such as Toyota, which sold 11.09 million vehicles in the last fiscal year. The merger would be scheduled for June 2026 and the listing of the new holding company for August of the same year.
Source: Ambito
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