Honda and Nissan in joint venture
Nissan and Honda are planning to set up a joint holding company that will be the parent of both marques.
The way forward is subject to approval at general meetings of each company’s shareholders and obtaining necessary approvals from relevant authorities for the merger based on the premise Nissan turns around its performance and creates a “leaner, more resilient business capable of swiftly adapting to changes in the market”.
Both Nissan and Honda will be fully owned subsidiaries of the joint holding company. Additionally, the companies plan to continue co-existing and developing brands they equally hold.
Shares of the newly established company are planned to be newly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in August 2026. With its listing of the joint holding company, Nissan and Honda will be delisted from the TSE.
However, shareholders of both will continue to be able to trade shares of the joint-holding company issued during this share transfer on the TSE.
Following the board of directors’ resolution and memorandum of understanding of December 23, the next stage – planned for June 2025 – is executing a “definitive agreement” concerning the merger, which will include the share-transfer plan.
Extraordinary shareholders’ meeting, with resolutions to approve the share transfer, are slated for April 2026. Delisting from the TSE is scheduled for the end of July or August 2026 followed by an effective date of the share transfer in August 2026.
How Mitsubishi is involved
More about how Mitsubishi Motors will be involved moving forward should be known in January 2025, although on December 23 it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Honda and Nissan.
This to “explore the possibility of Mitsubishi’s participation, involvement and synergy sharing in relation to the joint-holding company outlined in an MoU signed between Nissan and Honda”.
It means the three companies have reached a basic agreement to proceed with discussions based on the framework established in the MoU signed by Nissan and Honda on August 1, 2024, on starting a strategic partnership focused on intelligence and electrification.
Mitsubishi has been participating in this framework and the three companies have been holding talks on the way forward.
Following the agreement between Nissan and Honda to start consideration toward merging “amid the dramatic changes in the environment surrounding both companies and the automotive industry”, the three companies will now explore “the possibility of achieving synergies at an increased level through Mitsubishi’s participation or involvement”.
Takao Kato, president and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Motors, pictured, says: “In an era of change in the automotive industry, the study between Nissan and Honda about a business integration will accelerate synergy maximisation effects, bringing high value also to the collaborative businesses with Mitsubishi Motors.
“In order to realise synergies and to make the best use of each company’s strengths, we will also study the best form of co-operation.”
Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s president, adds: “Honda and Nissan will study the creation of significant synergies between the two companies in a wide range of fields.
“It is significant that Nissan’s partner, Mitsubishi Motors, is also involved in these discussions. We anticipate that if this integration comes to fruition, we will be able to deliver even greater value to a wider customer base.”
And Honda’s representative executive officer Toshihiro Mibe says: “At this time of change in the automobile industry, which is said to occur once every 100 years, we hope Mitsubishi Motors’ participation in the business-integration discussions of Nissan and Honda will lead to further social change, and that we will be able to become a leading company in creating new value in mobility.
“Nissan and Honda will start the discussion from today onwards with an aim to clarify the possibility of integration by around the end of January in line with the consideration of Mitsubishi Motors.”
