Nissan Motor Co. (OTC:NSANY) shares surged 22.54% in Tokyo on Wednesday after the reports of merger talks with Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC). Honda's stock is trading down 2%.
According to the report, the two automakers are exploring a merger under a holding company structure, with plans to include Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (OTC:MMTOF), where Nissan holds a 24% stake. A memorandum of understanding is expected soon. Mitsubishi Motor shares were seen trading over 13% higher in Tokyo at the time of writing.
If finalized, the combined Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi group could achieve annual sales exceeding 8 million vehicles, making it one of the world's largest automakers. However, it would still trail Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM), with 11.2 million sales in 2023, and Germany's Volkswagen AG at 9.2 million.
Year-to-date, Nissan shares have fallen 28.3% trading at 412 Japanese Yen ($2.68), while Honda is trading at 1,270 Japanese Yen ($8.27), down 15.7%. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motor stock is up 1.49% this year trading at 463 Japanese Yen ($3.01).
