Leading Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to merge by mid-2026. They believe the move will make them more competitive in the global auto market.
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00:00A historic announcement for Japan's motor industry.
00:04Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan
00:06have announced plans to merge.
00:08By coming together, they could become
00:10one of the world's largest car producers.
00:12The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding
00:31to formally begin discussing the merger,
00:33with another Japanese automaker, Mitsubishi,
00:36also considering joining the group.
00:38The move, Honda's chief executive said,
00:40is necessary to counter the rise of Chinese manufacturers
00:43in the automobile industry.
00:45The industry is increasingly moving
00:47towards electric vehicles,
00:48of which China has become the world's biggest producer.
00:51By joining forces, the two Japanese companies
00:53can become more competitive.
01:10The move has been viewed by some as a way to bail out Nissan,
01:16which has cut jobs and production
01:17as its sales have dropped.
01:19But Honda's chief executive dismissed those ideas,
01:22saying instead, it's a way for both companies
01:24to move towards becoming industry leaders.
01:27But Nissan's former chief executive, Carlos Ghosn,
01:29who fled to Lebanon after he was charged
01:31and arrested in Japan for financial crimes,
01:34has spoken out against the merger,
01:35saying it will not succeed
01:37because the companies are too similar.
01:39There's no complementarity.
01:40The two companies are two Japanese companies.
01:44They are strong in the same fields.
01:47They are weak in the same fields.
01:50Both of them have very developed technologies.
01:55From an industrial point of view,
01:56there is duplication everywhere.
01:59So, industrially, for me, it doesn't make sense.
02:02Regardless, the two companies say
02:04they aim to complete the merger by August 2026
02:07with the hope it will help them stay competitive
02:09on the global stage.
02:11Patrick Chen and Keynes Kuranta for Taiwan Plus.