- cross-posted to:
- cars@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- cars@lemmy.world
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That sounds like a disaster for Honda. Nissan doesn’t hardly have anything to offer except supply/sales volume. Honda beats them on engine tech, transmission tech, chassis tech, basically everything. Honda has lots to lose by taking on their mess, and Nissan doesn’t.
I don’t know about in Japan, but in the US, Nissan has a sub-$30k EV with the Leaf and Honda does not. So that would be worth something to them considering California is trying to phase out ICE cars.
https://insideevs.com/news/744407/ev-california-gas-car-sales-ban-2035/
That’s still only a single model that is <8% of Nissan’s already abysmal US sales volume. Nissan’s massive pile of garbage that fills up the rest of portfolio (and institutional problems behind the scenes) is absolutely NOT worth dealing with for the technology in a single model like that, even if it is “necessary” to offer to ensure compliance eith wishy washy regulatory soon-to-be’s. They would be much better off clean-slating their own, EV tech is significantly easier to develop compared to new ICE designs and if anyone is capable of that, it’s Honda.
It’s a single model and virtually the only model of EV less affluent Americans can afford. That’s a huge market.
It is a big, untapped market but it’s not a big market for the Leaf. Tesla sold 3x more Model 3 in the last year alone than Nissan has sold in the entire 14 year production run of the Leaf. It’s a hot mess.
The Model 3 is over $40,000. It’s selling more because Americans are barely even aware cheaper EVs exist.
I think it’s more that they don’t want to choose the lowest quality option when making such a large purchase. I’d rather spend an extra few thousand, spread over 5 years or whatever term length you choose, to get something that gives more power, range, and features than be stuck with a low quality EV that barely gets a 100 mile range after my loan is paid off.
The Bolt is another cheap EV that sells quite a bit better than the Leaf but still it’s a tiny fraction of what more expensive models like the Model 3 or Ioniq 5 sell because it’s so limited. You aren’t going to fit your family of 4 or 5 inside on comfortably, so why not just spend a little more to get something that can be used outside of solo work commutes if you’re going to be spending tens of thousands on it either way?
It’s the same reason why people buy trucks even if they only need a truck 2-3 times a year. It’s better to have a vehicle that can check all the boxes than something that’ll perform well in only a few areas of use.
It must be nice to have an extra few thousand to spend.
I absolutely agree with you there. For consumer space this merger doesn’t make sense for Honda. For Nissan share holder, this is fantastic… Only thing I can think of is Nissan has some EV tech that Honda could use but that’s quite the stretch. Nissan actually jumped into EV relatively early but they didn’t iterate on it quickly enough to matter. Honda has been dragging their feet on EV and they both completely missed the boat on bridge tech offering like plug in hybrid. This merger isn’t going to do anything to fix that.
Since Nissan is now a low end brand and Honda is moving more towards premium side perhaps being together would cover the market segments better. The merger absolutely does nothing for the high end market though.
The one thing that I don’t know anything about is the commercial market domestically in Japan. Perhaps Nissan has good market share which Honda could gain from this merger. Maybe someone could chime in on this.
Public perception is also a factor. Even seeing collaborated cars like their EV Chevy thing takes away from Honda’s perception of reliability.
no don’t nissan my hondas :(
Honestly though…… I wouldn’t be against a Honda’d Nissan…….
*Except the electronics
There goes another dependable car, motorcycle and outboard manufacturer. Nissan is the Japanese Renault, or any of the Stellantis brands. I have owned 2 Nissans and a Honda. I’d buy a currrent Honda in a heartbeat. I won’t touch a Nissan with a 10 ft pole.
Oh yay more whittling down of an already conglomerated industry surely this will be good for people
Japanese companies have a history of consolidating to be able to compete with foreign companies. This is in response to the sudden rise of Chinese companies and China replacing Japan as the top automotive exporter.
Do they though? Foreign companies are far more consolidated.
Nissan has been a dumpster fire for two decades. Honda should steer clear.
Nissan holds a majority stake with Mitsubishi. That actually might be worth something to Honda, and they also seem to be able to produce some cheap evs, like the leaf which Honda doesn’t seem able to do currently.
Mitsubishi the conglomerate or Mitsubishi the automaker? The former seems good but not the latter.
Auto I believe, but that still might be useful. They have access to Cummins engines, which are basically one of the only manufacturers that meet the next phase of ghg emissions requirements. Plus since Honda seems to be retooling their factories for solid state batteries, it might allow them to produce some stop gap evs without relying on other manufacturers like GM (Hondas latest is just a rebadged Chevy Blazer EV).
On the other hand, maybe a merger will help them get their shit together and compete with Toyota.
They definitely need to pump the brakes on this potential merger.
GTR Type-R? 😳👉👈
With the current market we’re more likely to see a Juke CRV 🤢
Maybe a Murano Pilot Cabriolet
V-Tec Mitsubishi lancer evo (because Nissan has a majority stake in Mitsubishi)? 👉👈
Nissan Z with Vtec?
🥺 👉👈
VTEC just kicked in yo
(Ancient meme time)
Edit: I miss my accord
I just want those Skyline R34s back
Guaranteed this just turns Honda into Nissan quality
They were on their way.
You don’t go less and less and less and less displacement forever and not expect some hiccups. Their new engines have been less engine, more pressure-cooker.
Ain’t like the old K and J engine bro-team that took the 2000’s and 2010’s.
I dunno. There are some very enthusiastic Honda fanboys that will be watching like a hawk.
This could just be Nissan reading the writing on the wall and choosing to do something about it before it’s too late.
Honda still needs to rely on more than “nationalism” to sell their cars, unlike American brands.
Could Honda’s interest be based on Nissan’s frame-based trucks? I don’t think Honda has any recent history in those markets.
Better tech for Mitsubishi will also be well received
RIP Mitsubishi motors. Went bankrupt and then got nissan’d into the void.
That’s not true, they still exist in 2077
Bye bye Honda
