Honda, Nissan May Announce Start of Merger Talks on Monday

Tokyo, Dec. 22 (Jiji Press)--Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are expected to announce as early as Monday the start of their talks on a possible merger, people familiar with the matter said.

The two Japanese automakers aim to share the cost of developing electric vehicle and autonomous driving technologies to catch up with U.S. and Chinese rivals.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., another Japanese automaker of which Nissan is the largest shareholder, is expected to join the merger talks after the turn of the year.

A combination of Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi will create the world's third-largest auto group with global annual vehicle sales of about eight million units.

But Honda and Nissan have a lot of overlap with each other. Both focus on North America and Asia as key markets and target the same customer base as mass-market automakers.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]