Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, and Honda President Toshihiro Mibe attend a joint news conference in Tokyo, on March 15.
The ascent of Chinese automakers is rattling the industry at a time when manufacturers are struggling to shift from fossil fuel-driven vehicles to electrics. Relatively inexpensive EVs from China’s BYD, Great Wall and Nio are eating into the market shares of U.S. and Japanese car companies in China and elsewhere.
A merger could result in a behemoth worth about $55-billion based on the market capitalization of all three automakers. Earlier this month it reshuffled its management and its chief executive, Makoto Uchida, took a 50 per cent pay cut to take responsibility for the financial woes, saying Nissan needed to become more efficient and respond better to market tastes, rising costs and other global changes.
The company has struggled for years following a scandal that began with the arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 on charges of fraud and misuse of company assets, allegations that he denies. He eventually was released on bail and fled to Lebanon.