Honda Motor Co. has asked Nissan Motor Co. to buy out a stake in Renault SA, taking into account the proposed consolidation of assets to expand its presence in the growing automotive market. This is reported by foreign media.
Nissan and Renault entered into an alliance in 1999, with the subsequent addition of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in 2016. French automaker Renault owns 35.7% of Nissan shares worth 557 billion yen ($3.6 billion).
The proposal is related to concerns from Honda regarding undesirable foreign influence on Nissan in the event of the sale of Renault's stake to a third party as part of the merger negotiations.
Honda and Nissan plan to conclude a final agreement at the end of January 2025 and create a separate holding company with assets of both companies by August 2026.
At the end of 2024, Honda and Nissan began negotiations on pooling assets to consolidate in the Japanese automotive market in order to compete with Tesla Inc. in the United States and BYD Co. in China and to avoid the takeover of Nissan by Taiwan's Foxconn amid negotiations.
However, it is not known whether Nissan has the means to buy out Renault's stake, given the financial difficulties that forced it to lay off 9,000 employees and reduce a fifth of production capacity after net profit fell by 94% in the first half of 2024. At the same time, Nissan's market value dropped to 1.56 trillion yen.
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational corporation producing automobiles, motorcycles and internal combustion engines. Honda also manufactures gardening equipment, boat engines, jet skis and generators, as well as other products. In 2000, the company released the ASIMO robot. The main production facilities are located in Japan, the USA, India and Brazil, the main sales markets are in the USA and Southeast Asia. The headquarters is located in Tokyo (Japan).
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese automaker headquartered in Yokohama, Japan.
Renault Group is a French automotive corporation, headquartered near Paris (France). The corporation produces passenger cars, commercial vehicles, sports cars, and electric vehicles under the Renault, Samsung, and Dacia brands. Renault is also engaged in the production of engines for other manufacturers, including Mercedes Class C.
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