Nissan courts tech giant in new survival bid

Nissan is rumoured to be seeking out new partners to merge with following the collapse of talks with Honda, with Taiwan’s Foxconn one of the latest brands in the mix considering a team-up.

Originally, Nissan’s future looked assured following a proposed marriage with Honda that would have seen the formation of the world’s third-largest car-maker, but it’s now back to square one after negotiations stalled.

The Nissan-Honda merger collapsed because Honda is worth more than five times of the struggling brand, with execs suggesting instead of a marriage of equals, it wanted the smaller firm to be more of a subsidiary.

According to Reuters, Nissan is now rushing to arrange a new deal and considering tech giants like Foxconn that has already formed a joint venture with fellow Taiwanese car-maker, Yulon Motors.

Coincidentally, Yulon Motors already has a close working relationship with Nissan and has built multiple models under license, including the last-generation (T32) X-Trail.

Foxconn currently manufactures the Apple iPhone and has been seeking out partners to further expand into the development and production of electric cars.

Struggling Nissan, meanwhile, has already announced that, in a direct response to falling sales in the US and China, it would slash 9000 workers and reduce its global capacity by 20 per cent in a series of emergency measures.

The original motivation behind the Honda-Nissan merger was being able to pool resources needed to develop next-gen EVs, software-defined vehicles and keep up with its rivals when it comes to driverless tech.

Combined, both Honda and Nissan would also be able to streamline manufacturing, reduce backroom overheads and ramp out the R&D spending needed to fund future EVs, software-defined vehicles, and help it expand into fully autonomous vehicles.

Following the rumours of a possible merger with Foxconn, Nissan’s shares rose by more than seven per cent during Thursday trading with investors generally welcoming the prospect of the deal that could end up saving the Japanese car-maker.

Nissan is expected to announce the Honda merger is off the table next week ahead of its Q3 earnings announcement.

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