Japanese media： Honda and Nissan discuss merger to fight against Tesla and China car companies.

　　[Global Times Comprehensive Report] According to a report by Japan’s Sankei Shimbun on the 18th, Honda and Nissan Motor Company are negotiating on business merger. Its purpose is to share the huge investment in developing the next generation of cars through business combination, so as to improve the competitiveness, and then to confront the rising American electric vehicle manufacturers Tesla and China car companies in the field of electric vehicles (EV). According to the report, if the merger between Honda and Nissan Motor Company is successful, the sales volume will exceed 8 million, making it the third largest automobile group in the world after Toyota of Japan and Volkswagen of Germany. Whether Mitsubishi Motors, as the largest shareholder of Nissan Motor Company, will join the merger is also concerned.

　　According to a report on the website of the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) on the 18th, in response to the news that two car companies will merge their businesses, Honda President Mihiro Sanbu said in an interview on the same day, "We are currently studying various possibilities including business merger, but no decision has been made."

　　Although the news of business merger has not been confirmed by the two car companies, it has aroused widespread concern in Japanese media. "Yomiuri Shimbun" analyzed on the 18th that the background of the planned business merger between Honda and Nissan is the rapidly rising Chinese and American car companies. Tesla in the United States and BYD in China are in a leading position in the development of electric vehicles and software-defined vehicles. Honda’s president, Mihiro Sanbu, expressed a sense of crisis at a press conference in August this year. "If we fight alone, we will not be able to surpass them."

　　Japan’s NHK website analyzed on the 18th that in terms of electric vehicle sales, the presence of Japanese car companies is not outstanding. With the development of automobile electrification and autonomous driving technology, it is becoming more and more important to develop software to control automobile functions. Sharing huge R&D expenses and their own technologies through business integration can help car companies improve their competitiveness.

　　Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter as saying on the 18th that Taiwan Province Hon Hai Group has approached Nissan Motor Co., seeking to acquire a majority stake in the latter. It is said that Hon Hai has been investing heavily in the construction of electric vehicle factories, and the company is currently interested in all assets of Nissan, including cars, not just its factories and equipment.

　　The Nikkei Chinese website reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan is likely to accelerate the merger negotiations between Nissan and Honda, because both companies are worried that Nissan may face the acquisition threat of Foxconn. (Zheng Nan)