According to three people familiar with the situation at Nissan, the company is thinking of partnering with Honda Motor on essential parts for EV in order to reduce production costs. Nissan will benefit from the possible alliance with local rival Honda by gaining scale, which is important for Japanese automakers because they compete fiercely with BYD, Tesla, and other electric vehicle manufacturers in China.
Nissan-Honda Collaboration on EV
Additionally, Nissan has pledged to spend up to $653 million, or 600 million euros, in Renault’s new electric vehicle company, Ampere.
However, in order to allow for a more flexible relationship, the two companies this year narrowed the scope of their years-long alliance. As a result, Renault has now negotiated agreements with additional partners, including China’s Geely. Nissan and Honda are thinking of working together on important EV components as well as “kei cars,” which are boxy, smaller, and less powerful than normal cars that are mostly produced for the home market.
Two of the sources said that the cooperation might grow to include international companies, but that would have an impact on Honda’s current joint venture with General Motors.
TV Tokyo initially reported about Nissan’s alliance pursuits. According to the publication Nikkei, possible concrete actions include developing a unified platform, introducing a common powertrain, and collaborating on procurement. According to a source at Honda, the business is exploring a number of options, including a possible alliance with Nissan, but before moving forward with a new venture, a number of issues must be resolved.
Honda wants to reach a 100% sales ratio for fuel cell and electric vehicles by 2040.
Nissan and Renault already collaborate on EVs, primarily in Europe. Constructed in the same northern French facility as the new Renault Five, the next Nissan electric Micra will have the same architecture.
