The Nissan/Honda Merger Talks May Be Back On

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Last Updated on: 11th March 2025, 01:49 pm

There are multiple news reports swirling around which suggest the on again/off again merger talks between Nissan and Honda may be on again. The key appears to be the status of Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, who has been running the Nissan circus since 2019. Nikkei, Japan’s primary financial news journal, as well as the Financial Times and Reuters, all say Uchida will step aside at the end of this month. Who his replacement might be has been the subject of much speculation. According to Autoblog, sources inside Nissan told Japanese newspaper Nikkei that significant personnel changes, including at the top level, are imminent. Uchida’s inability to secure a merger agreement with Honda is reportedly a key factor in his exit. His potential replacements include chief financial officer Jeremie Papin, chief planning officer Ivan Espinosa, and chief performance officer Guillaume Cartier. It remains unclear whether the next CEO will be an interim or permanent appointment.

Honda and Nissan have been in merger talks since last December, but called them off recently in order to prevent a penalty clause written into the pre-merger agreement from taking effect. The talks collapsed when Honda proposed that Nissan become a subsidiary rather than an equal partner in a newly formed conglomerate. Nissan executives balked at the idea, calling it an “insane decision.” But, with Uchida on the way out, Nissan may be more open to reconsidering Honda’s terms. A source inside Nissan told Nikkei that while a full subsidiary arrangement may not be certain, “the talks will probably proceed in the direction of accepting Honda’s investment.” If true, this could mean a major shift in Nissan’s willingness to cede some control in exchange for financial stability.

Nissan has also been exploring other potential partners. According to Reuters, it has begun discussions with Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, the company that builds iPhones for Apple. A link-up with Foxconn could help Nissan advance its electric vehicle development. Nissan’s longtime alliance partner Mitsubishi also faces uncertainty regarding its role in future partnerships.

Meet The New Nissan CEO

On March 11, Bloomberg broke the news that Ivan Espinosa will take over as CEO of Nissan on April 1. He joined Nissan in 2003. The 46-year-old assumes the huge task of reversing Nissan’s fading fortunes and finding a business partner in the wake of its failed tie-up with Honda Motor Co. Nissan has stumbled from one crisis to another since the 2018 ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who pulled the carmaker out of its last brush with extinction in 1999. Uchida’s leadership had been under heavy scrutiny since November, when Nissan reported a 94% drop in fiscal half year net income together with plans to cut 9,000 jobs and reduce production capacity by 20%. Voices of doubt had begun to emerge from within the company, Uchida admitted during a news briefing Tuesday evening. “To pass the baton like this is regrettable. For Nissan, the biggest priority is to rescue itself from its current situation and restore stability to its business,” he said.

Nissan has lost more than 40% of its market value since Uchida became CEO in late 2019. The company was worth ¥1.63 trillion ($11 billion) at the close of trading Tuesday, down from ¥2.91 trillion in December 2019. Asked on Tuesday about possible partnerships and the biggest challenges facing the carmaker, Espinosa declined to give clear answers. “I have just been informed of this appointment so I need some time to reflect,” Espinosa said. “I would refrain from commenting on speculation.” A mechanical engineer by training, Espinosa in his current role oversees the future product and service portfolios for the Nissan and Infiniti brands worldwide. His professional mission statement on the company website describes the auto industry’s top three challenges as electrification, connectivity, and autonomous driving technologies, all of which are areas where Nissan has historically lagged.

As CEO, Espinosa will be tasked with finding a financial way forward for the automaker just months after an agreement to combine with Honda under a single holding company fell apart. That deal would have created one of the world’s biggest carmakers and would have given Nissan a fighting chance against local giant Toyota and new competitive threats from China’s BYD. “Espinosa’s product strategy expertise allows the firm to tackle its lack of competitive models,” said Bloomberg Intelligence senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. “However securing cash and financial stability remain critical, demanding swift action from the new leadership.”

Renault Approves

Renault SA, which holds a 36% stake in Nissan, was quick to welcome Espinosa’s appointment. “We are confident that Ivan Espinosa will be keen to continue the relationship established between Nissan and Renault in recent years,” the French carmaker said in a statement. Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard had earlier this week commented that Nissan must “find in itself the strength to get back on its feet.” He also reiterated his displeasure over the Nissan-Honda deal, noting that it was a transaction that “was extremely rapid, a little brutal and which did not suit the corporate interest of Renault.”

Espinosa’s appointment comes as part of a broader management shuffle. Guillaume Cartier, who joined Nissan in France around three decades ago and serves as chief performance officer, will have an expanded role that includes global marketing and customer experience. Eiichi Akashi, corporate vice president of the vehicle planning and vehicle component engineering division, will succeed Kunio Nakaguro as chief technology officer. Teiji Hirata will be responsible for manufacturing and supply chain management, succeeding Hideyuki Sakamoto. Jeremie Papin, seen by some as a front runner to replace Uchida, will retain his role as chief financial officer and was also appointed an executive officer.

Espinosa is younger than most of the executives who will now report to him, underscoring the view of him as a rising managerial talent within the company.“I sincerely believe that Nissan has so much more potential than what we are seeing today,” Espinosa said. “I’m looking forward to build on the efforts of those who have come before me” to bring stability and growth back to the company.

The Takeaway

The road ahead for Nissan is fraught with challenges, yet the company does have quite a lot of experience building electric vehicles, experience it has failed to leverage successfully so far. Alpine, the performance arm of Renault, plans to bring a new electric SUV called the A390 to market. According to Inside EVs, it may be a worthy competitor to the battery-electric Porsche Macan, but here’s the important part. It will be built on the same platform as the current Nissan Ariya, which was the best selling electric car in Norway last month. There are even hints that Alpine may be considering importing that car to the US, although the current turbulence caused by the imposition of new tariffs by the so-called president of the US may spike those plans. Nevertheless, there are other markets and it speaks volumes that Alpine would base an important new model on the Ariya platform.

Ia there light ahead for Nissan? Possibly. Honda has a market value five times that of Nissan and clearly wants to be the lead dog in any new relationship with Nissan. Pride and “face” are vitally important aspects of society at all levels in Japan and it is going to be hard for Nissan to accept the role of junior partner. It may have little choice in the matter, however.