Honda and Nissan reported in merger talks

Appleseed said:

Remember when Daimler merged (bought) Chrysler in the later 90s? That was awesome, wasn't it?

Exactly what I was thinking of. I see what Nissan (Chrysler) gets out of it but don't see what Honda (Mercedes) gets.

Any chance Honda is looking to gain Nissans North American production capacity in anticipation of tariffs?

Appleseed said:

Remember when Daimler merged (bought) Chrysler in the later 90s? That was awesome, wasn't it?

I still hate Mercedes because of that. My favorite parts were when Mercedes transferred a huge pile of cash straight from Chrysler to Daimler, forced Chrysler to use Mercedes part designs, and then back charged them for the engineering.

No Time said:

Any chance Honda is looking to gain Nissans North American production capacity in anticipation of tariffs?

Honda has pretty good NA capacity in Ohio already. 

dculberson said:

Appleseed said:

Remember when Daimler merged (bought) Chrysler in the later 90s? That was awesome, wasn't it?

Exactly what I was thinking of. I see what Nissan (Chrysler) gets out of it but don't see what Honda (Mercedes) gets.

Honda gets to eliminate a significant competitor. Curious what happens to Nissan partners Renault and Mitsubishi.

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

Now that you mention it, I'm kind of surprised it's Nissan, not Mitsubishi, under the threat of a merger.

I see that there are a couple news articles where Honda and Nissan are confirming that they're going to be trying to work together, but they're strongly denying that there's any chance of a merger.

Which roughly translates to: There will definitely be a merger.

What's in it for Honda?

Honda has been heavily investing in BEV tech lately. Their two current offerings are basically GM platform cars, so I can see this as a way to fast track their plans to add more BEV tech under their own roof. Nissan is a mess, but they have a history of having good ideas and some really great cars, but have been horribly mismanaged in the past 20-25 years or so, leading to the situation they are in. I can see this working somehow. 

The Japanese government has a fair amount of control over Japanese industry through their "administrative guidance." I have to wonder if this is the Japanese keeping their brands from being sold off to the highest bidder (read Chinese). There has always been some animosity between them. Maybe Honda has the capability to absorb Nissan and they got their marching orders from on high. 

I am assuming this is a net negative for Honda, but that hasn't stopped their post-Soichiro leadership team in any of their previous blunders.  (Only hybrids moving forward, auto-only NSX, killing V10/V8 programs, etc., etc.)

Fire the business leaders, put the engineers back in charge, and let Honda be Honda: slightly different, super driver focused, and super reliable. 

1988RedT2 said:

I've always held Honda in high regard.  Merging/acquiring Nissan will certainly drag them down.

yeah... after 11 years with them I do not. 

Flynlow said:

I am assuming this is a net negative for Honda, but that hasn't stopped their post-Soichiro leadership team in any of their previous blunders.  (Only hybrids moving forward, auto-only NSX, killing V10/V8 programs, etc., etc.)

Fire the business leaders, put the engineers back in charge, and let Honda be Honda: slightly different, super driver focused, and super reliable. 

It doesn't even have to be an engineer, just someone that doesn't think cars are dishwashers.

I'm still bullish on Nissan turning things around but they're making all the wrong moves with the pricing of the 400z and the 2025 Patrol. That market is rapidly collapsing under its own weight.

According to an article on the autopian, Honda's interest in Nissan is less about Honda wanting Nissan and more about Honda not wanting Foxconn to get Nissan.

Pretty early for an April Fools Day joke, Honda.  Now stop messing around, and get back to work on that new Prelude!

This whole thing feels like Nissan desperately needs a place to crash for a few days and Honda is reluctantly offering its couch.