Honda Open to More Nissan Talks
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Shares of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. surged as much as 8.6%, the most in two months, after a report that Honda Motor Co. would be willing to restart talks on a potential tie-up with ailing peer Nissan Motor Co. if its CEO Makoto Uchida steps down.
Mitsubishi, which has been considering getting involved in the carmakers’ possible integration, was the Nikkei 225’s top performer as at 12:31 p.m. in Tokyo. Nissan’s stock also rose as much as 5.8% on the report.
Nissan and Honda announced talks over a possible tie-up in December, but called off their discussions last week. Honda would be open to resuming negotiations under a new leader who could better manage opposition within Nissan, according to the Financial Times, which cited people with knowledge of the deliberations.
If integration is back on the table, that would be a plus for all parties involved, said Tatsuo Yoshida, senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “If a Nissan-Honda partnership is reconsidered under new Nissan leadership, that could be a win-win result,” he said.
Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda President Toshihiro Mibe attend a joint news conference in Tokyo last year. (Kyodo News via AP)
It would be especially good news for Mitsubishi, whose future is uncertain with the struggling Nissan as a major shareholder, he added. A three-way tie-up with Honda would mean Mitsubishi would not have to rely so much on Nissan, and could better navigate competition in the auto sector, Yoshida said. Mitsubishi’s large presence in Southeast Asia would make it a strong member of the trio, but “unless Nissan gets its act together, the outlook for Mitsubishi is murky,” he added.
Nissan’s CEO Uchida, who has been at the helm since December 2019, oversaw the company’s worst share price performance in at least 50 years before news of the Honda talks emerged. The prospect of a tie-up boosted the stock on hopes Honda might help reinvigorate Nissan’s business.
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The firm’s profits have fallen and its credit-default swaps have widened to among the largest in Japan under Uchida’s watch, too.
Taiwanese tech maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and private equity firm KKR & Co. are also keen on investing in Nissan. The automaker’s stock has reacted positively to the possibility of additional partners.
Honda’s shares reversed their earlier fall to rise as much as 0.6% after the FT report.
