Honda and Nissan Plan to Start Merger Talks, Report Says

Group 1 - Honda and Nissan are planning to begin negotiations for a possible merger, which could also involve Mitsubishi Motors, creating a larger competitor to Toyota in Japan [1][2] - The companies aim to sign a memorandum of understanding to negotiate shared equity in a holding company for the combined automaker [2] - Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi sold a total of 3.7 million vehicles in the six months ending September 30, compared to Toyota's 4.5 million [3] Group 2 - The partnership between Honda and Nissan regarding electric vehicles was established in March, with Mitsubishi joining in August [3] - U.S.-traded shares of Nissan increased significantly, while Honda's shares saw a slight rise following the news [3] - Company spokespeople indicated that Honda and Nissan are exploring various collaboration possibilities to leverage each other's strengths [3]