The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2024–2025
Honda and Nissan killed their own $60B merger over who would be in charge
Two months of talks ended on February 13 2025 — Honda demanded control, Nissan refused, and a merger meant to fight Chinese EVs was dead.
Honda · Nissan · 2025-02-13
What happened
In December 2024 Honda, Nissan and junior partner Mitsubishi announced plans to combine under a new holding company — a group worth about $60 billion and the world's fourth-largest automaker by sales, built to fight Chinese EV makers. The plan followed a smaller March 2024 partnership on EVs and software.
From the start the merger was conditional: Honda said any deal assumed Nissan completed its turnaround. Nissan had announced 9,000 job cuts and had halved its CEO's pay in late 2024.
In talks, Honda pushed to make Nissan a subsidiary rather than an equal partner, arguing Nissan's decision-making was too slow. Nissan refused. On 13 February 2025 the two companies announced the talks were over.
Nissan was left exposed: Renault, its 36% shareholder, called the proposed terms unacceptable, and Taiwan's Foxconn said it would consider buying Nissan shares. Honda's CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the merger was needed to build capabilities against Chinese rivals by 2030 — 'otherwise we will be beaten'.
Why it happened
- The two sides disagreed on the core question — equal partnership or subsidiary — and neither would bend: Honda wanted control it could not guarantee, Nissan would not accept being absorbed.
- Honda's turnaround condition made the merger hostage to Nissan's recovery; when Nissan's restructuring looked too slow, Honda lost confidence in the deal it was being asked to sign.
- Nissan needed the deal more than Honda did, which gave Honda the power to set terms — and gave Nissan a reason to refuse them; the collapse left the weaker party with nothing.
The lesson
A merger agreed in public collapsed in private: the stronger side wanted control, the weaker side wanted equality. Nissan needed the deal more than Honda did — and walked away over governance.
Aftermath
After the merger collapsed on 13 February 2025, the two companies kept a limited partnership on electric vehicles and software but pursued no equity tie-up. Nissan continued its restructuring alone and searched for new partners, while Foxconn signalled interest in co-operating with Nissan and Renault.
Sources
- BBC — Honda and Nissan merger talks collapse
- Reuters — Inside the collapse of Nissan and Honda's $60 billion mega deal
- Economic Times — Why Honda and Nissan's $60 billion merger talks failed; what next
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