Honda and Nissan to merge, Honda will take the lead

if the deal goes through it would create the world's third-largest OEM in 2026.

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[barich]

I don't understand what Honda expects to get from this. I can't think of a single thing that Nissan does better than they do.

 

[Causification]

Shit, shit, shit. There is no way Honda's quality is going to survive merging with those brain-rotted fuckwits.

 

[kvndoom]

Carlos Ghosn's greatest crime was releasing the Murano Convertible.

 

[PatientZero]

I don't understand what Honda expects to get from this. I can't think of a single thing that Nissan does better than they do.

Electric cars. With the Leaf, Nissan once had the best selling EV in the world, for most of the 2010s.

They fell off after that, but it's still way more than Honda's ever done.

 

[deet]

“Create mobility value through chemical reaction” as a way to describe what these companies do makes me want to set fire to something

 

[CosmicCaribou]

And so about that CRV plugin hybrid...

 

[citizencoyote]

Honda and Nissan are two companies with distinctive strengths.

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

 

[GordonPrice1967]

"we strive to be the one and only leading company that creates new mobility value through chemical reaction that can only be driven through synthesis of the two teams"
Is this bad translation, or just corporate speak in the extreme? If it's the latter, they are ... screwed. With management that vacuous I don't see Nissan adding any value to the partnership. More like a management anchor around the new corporate neck.

 

[norton_I]

Carlos Ghosn's greatest crime was releasing the Murano Convertible.

And yet it's better than every single vehicle they have released since Ghosn escaped.

 

[didhestealtheraisins]

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

That’s not nothing.

 

[deet]

"we strive to be the one and only leading company that creates new mobility value through chemical reaction that can only be driven through synthesis of the two teams"
Is this bad translation, or just corporate speak in the extreme? If it's the latter, they are ... screwed. With management that vacuous I don't see Nissan adding any value to the partnership. More like a management anchor around the new corporate neck.

That’s Honda’s guy speaking.

It’s like trying to pour a hole into another hole

 

[Hemlocke]

I don't understand what Honda expects to get from this. I can't think of a single thing that Nissan does better than they do.

Nissan is better about performance cars, for one. The Civic Type R is good, but the Z is more of a sports car and Godzilla, albeit very long in the tooth, is still the kind of car Honda doesn't make. Globally, Honda had the NSX, but it was still a very low volume (Less than a thousand in any year) production car.

 

[barich]

Electric cars. With the Leaf, Nissan once had the best selling EV in the world, for most of the 2010s.

They fell off after that, but it's still way more than Honda's ever done.

Except that they left out active battery cooling, which has doomed the ones sold in warm climates to early deaths. Innovation isn't great if it's half-assed.

 

[norton_I]

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

That's my best guess. Nissan targeted sales volume by selling low cost low margin cars to rental fleets. They got high volume but didn't make enough money to develop new cars and dilluted their brand name significantly. It's possible Honda thinks they can make money on fleet sales but doesn't want to dillited the Honda brand name. If they share platforms with Honda (or GM) maybe they can reduce the development costs enough that the fleet sales are profitable?

 

[Solidstate89]

Please for the love of god do not let this end up like Boeing. Let Honda just shitcan everyone responsible for making Nissan what it's been for the last decade plus.

 

[barich]

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

I just had a Rogue as a rental. It had a 3-cylinder engine. This seems to be a thing now; I had a Ford Escape with one too. They are both the least refined powerplants I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing. At and just off-idle, there is a ton of vibration that you can feel throughout the entire vehicle.

 

[wagnerrp]

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

That’s a strength? Nissan has been on my rental car shitlist for a decade. It started with the sloppy steering, and continued with CarPlay and the infotainment system crashing any time I try to make a call. Infinity suffers the same problem.

 

[ColdWetDog]

Electric cars. With the Leaf, Nissan once had the best selling EV in the world, for most of the 2010s.

They fell off after that, but it's still way more than Honda's ever done.

That's kind of like having a maker of fuel injectors merge with CATL. A couple of paradigms behind the present stage of technology.

 

[trobbelke]

So eh, is Nissan going to enter the motorcycle market?

 

[barich]

Nissan is better about performance cars, for one. The Civic Type R is good, but the Z is more of a sports car and Godzilla, albeit very long in the tooth, is still the kind of car Honda doesn't make. Globally, Honda had the NSX, but it was still a very low volume (Less than a thousand in any year) production car.

The Z is ancient at this point despite their attempt at a refresh, and it's been widely given mediocre reviews.

I'll give you the GT-R. But merging with Nissan for just that doesn't seem quite worth it.

 

[HiroTheProtagonist]

In the future, they'll add Mitsubishi and thereby form a Japanese losers club and change name to Hellantis...

Honestly, I could see Mitsubishi spinning off their automotive branch, given that it's practically vestigial compared to everything else Mitsubishi does. Far as I can tell, the only reason they keep making cars is because people remember the Lancer.

 

[barich]

I like this. Now I only have to remember one brand of crappy cars I would never buy instead of two brands. Buy American baby

An awful lot of Hondas on this list:

https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/
And not a single car made by a US company. Oh, do you think the Jeep Gladiator is? Stellantis is based in the Netherlands.

Edit: Tesla is obviously a US company, sorry, but for some reason I don't think that's what OP was talking about.

 

[SeanArs]

Nissan is better about performance cars, for one. The Civic Type R is good, but the Z is more of a sports car and Godzilla, albeit very long in the tooth, is still the kind of car Honda doesn't make. Globally, Honda had the NSX, but it was still a very low volume (Less than a thousand in any year) production car.

Sports cars don’t pay the bills for an OEM like Honda. They are probably closer to a rounding error.

They’ve proven they can build performance cars and competition PUs on their own.

If they did want to build a high volume performance car above the CTR, they could partner with another OEM to share development costs, a la Toyota/Subaru twins, BMW/Toyota z4 and Supra.

I don’t see buying an entire flailing OEM for decades old tech.

 

[joshuaperry]

I don't understand what Honda expects to get from this. I can't think of a single thing that Nissan does better than they do.

Trucks sell so good in the US that Ford stopped making anything else (besides the abomination they call a mustang). Honda doesn't make trucks, and Nissan's truck platform is(was?) pretty strong.

 

[Reddegeddon]

Electric cars. With the Leaf, Nissan once had the best selling EV in the world, for most of the 2010s.

Right, and the Leaf was such a compromised piece of shit that it ruined the reputation of EVs in general for a lot of people, with some of its shortcomings still being used to smear EVs today. Noticeable degradation starting at 30,000 miles and a launch max range of roughly 100 miles, and they never really fixed the degradation problem because they essentially ignored battery cooling, even in the redesign.

 

[Oldmanalex]

Shit, shit, shit. There is no way Honda's quality is going to survive merging with those brain-rotted fuckwits.

Get Nissan away from other influences, and maybe their mojo will return. We had a Datsun 310 back in the day (distant past) and the best part by far of our Mercury Villager was the Nissan V6. Honda need to move out of snooze mode as well. Despite loving the hybrid Accord, we had to switch to Kia when we wanted a PHEV, and it was the right choice, even though we have owned multiple Hondas, and never had a problem with any of them.

 

[toastie]

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

Had a Datsun 5-door in the '80s. Solid car, ran decently. More recently, rented a Maxima. Never again, and it has put me off the brand permanently.

 

[ARLibertarian]

“Create mobility value through chemical reaction” as a way to describe what these companies do makes me want to set fire to something

SpaceX calls this a RUD don't they?

 

[Tonkaman]

I don't understand what Honda expects to get from this. I can't think of a single thing that Nissan does better than they do.

Honda is behind on EVs. That's why GM is building the only Honda EV right now. And for Nissan, EVs are about the only thing they do well. They're ICE lineup has been garbage for years.

 

[nbfs-chili]

Nissan is better about performance cars, for one. The Civic Type R is good, but the Z is more of a sports car and Godzilla, albeit very long in the tooth, is still the kind of car Honda doesn't make. Globally, Honda had the NSX, but it was still a very low volume (Less than a thousand in any year) production car.

I had a 2006 S2000 that I liked quite a bit. And I felt like it drove better than the Z car I test drove. I wish Honda would go back to that...

 

[syntat]

Sounds like the strategic partnership's VTEC just kicked in, yo.

 

[ARLibertarian]

Nissan is better about performance cars, for one. The Civic Type R is good, but the Z is more of a sports car and Godzilla, albeit very long in the tooth, is still the kind of car Honda doesn't make. Globally, Honda had the NSX, but it was still a very low volume (Less than a thousand in any year) production car.

The only thing I drove for 20+ years was Nissan Z cars. Loved every minute behind the wheel. I liked the Pathfinder so much I bought the exact same one, same year, twice. My wife has an Xterra.

There is Nothing Nissan has out now that appeals to me.

 

[Tonkaman]

I just had a Rogue as a rental. It had a 3-cylinder engine. This seems to be a thing now; I had a Ford Escape with one too. They are both the least refined powerplants I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing. At and just off-idle, there is a ton of vibration that you can feel throughout the entire vehicle.

There's nothing you can really do about that. I've been told by multiple mechanics and engineers, "never buy a vehicle with an odd number of cylinders. You save on fuel, but in the end they'll rattle themselves to death." It's a balance thing.

 

[ARLibertarian]

I had a 2006 S2000 that I liked quite a bit. And I felt like it drove better than the Z car I test drove. I wish Honda would go back to that...

S2000 was a lot smaller than the Z32. Kind of apples to orange.

 

[abj]

I know what Honda's strengths are, but what are Nissan's? Building out rental car fleets?

Big Altima Energy

 

[SlowJoeCrow]

My fervent hope is Honda becomes the dominant engineering partner raising Nissan up rather than Nissan bringing Honda down. As for why, some is volume, some is Nissan's electric car expertise.
This leaves me wondering where Mazda and Subaru are heading. Both are significantly smaller than Nissan or Honda, but both established ties with Toyota after splitting with Ford and GM respectively in 2008. FWIW Mazda has cut their in house designs to the bone, outsourcing everything but their core passenger car line and buying in everything else including Toyota hybrid drivetrains for the CX-5.