What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the industry

It is also being said is because certain situation, that merger being happened.

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/potential-honda-deal-signals-panic-mode-for-nissan-says-exhiled-exchairman-ghosn-93CH-3784205

https://www.businessinsider.nl/former-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-calls-the-nissan-honda-merger-plan-a-desperate-move/

check this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGJhaVP0D1A&ab_channel=BloombergPodcasts

may be not far from reality...?

What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the industry

It means they are doing everything in their power to stay relevant.

It means they'll be making Honsans.

It will only work if Honda Runs The Show.

One way for Honda to do it is to merge with an already successful maker like Tesla, or BYD instead of re inventing the wheel, Mazda did it and it's doing well.

Japanese made cars are often the most reliable in the world with the very good dealership services and deals. I do not trust the Chinese cars or anything that matter even though they maybe cheaper. Japanese car makers (and other Japanese products) have produced their cars with a good heart and soul, and reputation. I hope they can team up to get over this challenging time but Japanese will always shine out I believe for the quality that is second to none.

@WoodyLee

One way for Honda to do it is to merge with an already successful maker like Tesla, or BYD instead of re inventing the wheel, Mazda did it and it's doing well.

Mazda has not merged with any already successful maker... check your facts. And it is certainly not doing well. Or rather is not doing better by any stretch.

I really don’t care what it ‘does’ mean. I just hope it doesn’t mean Honda gets sucked down into the hole Nissan has been trying to get itself out of for the past forty years.

It means that Japan finally has a sense of humor.

I can say, based on personal experience, that Nissan and Mitsubishi corporate cultures are very proud, if not outright arrogant. It's hard to see the rank and file taking orders from Honda on just about anything. (Nissan and Mitsubishi barely work together as it is.)

Beyond trying to mix those corporate cultures, they'll also need to integrate ordering/procurement, inventory management, engineering, manufacturing, R&D and product development, sales channels, advertising... a potential non stop series of headaches. Good luck.

@arrghh-type - totally agree, also based on family exerience. 25 years after Renault and Nissan agreed to work together, they still have not integrated, and Mitsubishi is the very distant cousin. Vendor management is appalling, supply chain is irregular, and numerous staff spend too much time acting as intermediaries and sorting out problems between the 2 (sometimes 3) organisations. The people on the executive floor are arrogant, and out of touch with the rest of the staff.

Mitsubishi also has an extremely proud and closed corporate culture. Try merging that. It's the whole reason they fabricated the Ghosn fiction with the J-gov. To prevent a merger with Renault. Nationalism at its finest.

Nissan is still all in on their Leaf platform. It's fine as a domestic car, but few outside Japan want them. Toyota's hybrids sell much better internationally. It's no fluke they are a top international motor corp.

What is means is that both companies are hemorrhaging cash (much to the irritation of their shareholders), and their company leaders think combining the stronger elements of both their companies to form a new band is the only way to go. This will absolutely translate into employee layoffs by a very large percentile due to duplication of efforts; as in, 10+% if not or more for both Nissan and Honda.

It's changing nothing, because this merger is of course embedded in bigger economic conditions. As long as people who are interested in cars but can't afford them to buy and operate, nothing changes for the two car makers and the whole car industry. If they fight individually as before or together for lower costs and better synergies, most of the interested people still can't afford the cars or step by step grow older and give up driving at all with no follow-up generations due to the well-known lowest ever birthrates. So the one and only question is, who do they all even produce the many cars for? For old people with inflation decreased bank accounts and for unborn babies? That obviously doesn't make sense in either direction.

A Huge, I hope much researched gamble. Honda renowned manufacturer of reliable revvy sporty cars, best gearboxes.? Nissan handmade engines capable of huge hp revisions (I worshipped the R34). Mitsubishi, tough sedans and off-roaders ( apart from the paint chips), But where is the Queen of Clubs.. SALES, check the TSE.

I have owned and driven H,N.M&US various, but the most memorable is jpn ~1990 Land cruiser, indestructible, trusty to drive exposed in any typhoon. (I had it on a reclamation site 1995). My work colleagues adore them as cheap to maintain and everlasting. I am not into EV's, no trust. Well if the Q.o.C steps up truly. Who knows

The biggest problem Honda, Nissan and most other car manufacturers face is that BYD, Geeley, Great Wall and other Chinese brands can make a quality, reliable, well equipped vehicle and sell it for $30,000 AND make a profit.

Not everybody on this planet wants to ride around in a Chinese car. The price isn't the issue. Japanese cars are highly respected globally in both developed and developing nations, as they have been in the international car market since the 1950s. That's about 70 years. China began exporting cars in the 1980s. And they still have to overcome the bias of poor Chinese quality. Chinese cars may do well in the under-developed countries where the price tag is the determining factor. But the threat of Chinese cars is real, as evidenced by tariffs by the US and EU.

Chinese EVs are getting fine reviews in Australia and the UK. Buy what you want. Let others buy what they want.

And they still have to overcome the bias of poor Chinese quality. Chinese cars may do well in the under-developed countries where the price tag is the determining factor. 

Catch up! The quality of Chinese built cars is equal and sometimes better than US and many European brands. Price is a factor in EVERY market, and as you said especially in developing countries. Which, by the way, is exactly where the future growth of the car industry is.

Chinese Automakers and Foxconn said to have interest in buying Nissan.

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20241218PD229/foxconn-nissan-china-automakers-automotive.html

Companies with proud engineering departments and models that compete with more than complement one another. Marginal improvements from economies of scale aside, there is no reason to expect much from this METI orchestrated endeavor.

Ghosn's take on this forced merger is worth listening to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGJhaVP0D1A

TWO of Ghosn co workers at Nissan who also left the company disgusted by what they watched unfold became the Presidents of Hyundai and Range Rover .

Mr KiplingDec. 24  08:02 pm JST

And they still have to overcome the bias of poor Chinese quality. Chinese cars may do well in the under-developed countries where the price tag is the determining factor. 

Catch up! The quality of Chinese built cars is equal and sometimes better than US and many European brands. 

Do you know what the term "bias" means? Look it up.

Do you know what the term "bias" means? Look it up.

Ghosn recently took questions in a press conference arranged by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. One interesting nugget of information came when he was asked if he was surprised by China's rapid advances in the automotive industry. He said he was not, and that quality at Nissan's plants in China was better than those in Japan, Europe, and the U.S.

It will only work if Honda Runs The Show.

100% agree. Either Honda runs it the "Honda way" or all three will be the next victim of a take-over. Honda must be cautious and smart in how this is carried out.

They are two very different companies. I don't think they can working with each other.

Honda cars has good air conditioning, I drove a 1990 Honda Prelude many years ago. Incredible sensitive engine and transmission of a car of silent and comfortable with almost 360 views, an automatic transparent sun roof. You can't get it back these days !