Honda Ready To Revive Takeover Talks If Nissan CEO Uchida Leaves

Honda Motor is prepared to resume merger discussions with Nissan Motor to form the world’s fourth-largest automaker—provided Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida steps down, The Financial Times reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Uchida has faced increasing pressure to turn Nissan around after years of declining sales and internal management turmoil. I Photo: Nissan

The report by Daniel Leussink, Rhea Rose Abraham, and Urvi Dugar appeared in Reuters.

Japan’s second- and third-largest automakers by sales (after Toyota) had been in talks to create a $60 billion company. The discussions were driven by Nissan’s struggles in the U.S. hybrid market and fierce competition from Chinese automakers, which had significantly impacted its earnings.

However, the talks collapsed last week, adding to Nissan’s uncertainty and underscoring the mounting pressure on legacy automakers, particularly from fast-growing Chinese competitors.

Uchida has faced increasing pressure to turn Nissan around after years of declining sales and internal management turmoil.

Reuters reported in December that the coming months would be critical for both Uchida’s leadership and Nissan’s future.

Merger negotiations with Honda unraveled in just over a month due to Nissan’s reluctance to acknowledge the severity of its financial struggles, as well as Honda’s proposal to make Nissan a subsidiary, sources previously told Reuters.