Honda proposed a merger with Nissan at the end of last year that was accepted soon after, and as with any proposed merger of two industry giants, there is bound to be some collateral damage. Honda has expressed interest in merging with Nissan and Mitsubishi, but Honda reportedly has no interest Renault, the French automaker that currently owns 35.7 percent of Nissan. According to Bloomberg, Honda doesn’t want to risk letting an unknown third party upend the merger by purchasing Renault’s stake in Nissan while the merger is in process. Honda reportedly asked if Nissan can buy its shares back from the French automaker, but at current exchange rates that ask could cost the already financially unstable Nissan upwards of $3.5 billion.
The merger of these Japanese automotive giants isn’t finalized just yet. Honda and Nissan are still determining if a merger is a viable option, but Honda’s fears aren’t entirely unfounded; there were whispers that Foxconn expressed interest in Renault’s stake in Nissan, which would throw a wrench in Honda’s plans. A decision surrounding the merger should be finalized by the end of January, though if the companies decide to merge, changes won’t likely be seen until the end of 2026.
The official press release announcing the potential merger between Honda and Nissan failed to mention Renault or its not-insignificant stake in the latter Japanese automaker. Renault offered a brief follow-up announcement after that press release got distributed, where it said the company would “consider all options based on the interest of the group and its stakeholders.” Neither representatives from Nissan or Honda chose to comment when Bloomberg reached out to them.
Should Honda Nissan and Mitsubishi merge, Bloomberg estimates the group would reach a market value of about $57 billion. While that is a massive value, Toyota is currently valued at $276 billion and Tesla is valued at more than a trillion dollars, so the conglomerate would still be relatively small. We’ve seen mergers of other automotive industry giants such as Fiat Chrysler joining with PSA to create Stellantis, so a Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi merger wouldn’t be entirely groundbreaking. We will continue to share any updates as they occur.