Honda, Nissan planning to start merger talks in light of EV competition: reports

Core Viewpoint - Honda Motor and Nissan Motor are reportedly in the process of merging their companies to better compete with leading global electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla and BYD [1][4] Company Overview - Honda and Nissan are the second and third-largest auto manufacturers in Japan, with market capitalizations of approximately 5.95 trillion yen ($38.8 billion) and 1.17 trillion yen ($7.6 billion), respectively [2] Current Challenges - Both companies are struggling to compete with global EV makers, leading to significant operational changes [4] - Nissan recently cut its global workforce by 9,000, reducing its global production capacity by 20% [3][4] - Nissan's restructuring plan aims to achieve "healthy growth" by reducing fixed costs by 300 billion yen (around $1.9 billion) and variable costs by 100 billion yen (roughly $649 million) [5] Strategic Measures - Nissan is implementing various measures to lower selling, general, and administrative expenses, decrease the cost of goods sold, rationalize its asset portfolio, and prioritize capital expenditures and investments in research and development [6]