Nissan Needs to Triple Profit for Honda Merger – report

It’s an open secret that if a mechanic doesn’t want to do a job for a customer, they’ll quote them an exorbitant price to do the work.

In recent weeks it was announced Honda and Nissan plan to join forces to co-develop new cars and share costs – however, now Honda says Nissan will need to triple its profit for the merger to be successful.

According to a report from business publication Nikkei Asia, Honda has estimated Nissan would need to “at least” triple its annual profit by April 2026, as a condition of the unification.

Typically, companies will strive for growth of between 10 and 25 per cent annually – meaning a growth rate of 200 per cent could be considered ambitious.

The two Japanese car companies announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in late 2024, with tentative plans to merge by August 2026 – provided their finances are healthy.

“The integration will not be realised unless Nissan and Honda execute it as two companies that are able to stand on their own feet,” Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in a joint press conference last month, confirming this was a condition of the MOU.

Despite Nissan’s operating profits falling by 90 per cent for the six months of the fiscal year, Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida confirmed his commitment to the proposal, telling media: “The [financial] turnaround [of Nissan] is my commitment”.