"Will it be Nonda or Hissan?" — Netizens react to Honda and Nissan being in talks for a possible merger

Honda and Nissan are in the middle of talks for a potential merger, as reported by several outlets including Reuters, BBC, and CNN. As reported by BBC, a primary concern behind the talk was to beat the electric vehicle makers, particularly in China. Both the companies told the outlet:

"As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other's strengths."

While they have suggested that talks were on, no time frame as to when a deal could take place, has been revealed. The possibility of a merger between the two Japanese companies was apparently first reported on Tuesday, December 17, by Nikkei.

Meanwhile, netizens took to social media platforms like X, to share their take on the news of this potential merger. Many shared funny names for the new company in case the existing ones merged. A user wrote on X:

"Will it be Nonda or Hissan? Place your bets."

Another user joked:

"Hondissan Motors."

"Nihonda has a good ring to it," suggested another one.

"Can't wait to drive a Nishonda," added a tweet.

Many gave an opinion based on their choice of brand between the two companies. A user commented on X:

"Honda/Acura is my favorite vehicle manufacturer so I hope Honda will call the shots."

"Hopefully nissans can be decent cars now," wrote a netizen.

"It gonna be an explosive collab 🤯" declared another one.

---

Exploring the challenges faced by Nissan and Honda in the market

As aforementioned, the primary reason behind even considering a merger was to beat Tesla and several other electric vehicle makers in China. However, both the automobile manufacturing companies have been going through troubles in the recent years.

As reported by CNN, the struggles of Nissan began when former CEO Carlos Ghosn became a fugitive. Ghosn apparently fled Japan and went to Lebanon. Ghosn was facing charges relating to financial misconduct in Japan, which ultimately prompted him to flee to Lebanon.

According to the reports by CNN, these allegations also caused cracks in the partnership between Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi. Renault reduced its ownership stake in Nissan, which was enough to weaken the automaker.

Meanwhile, Honda faces different kinds of challenges. Last year, the company pledged to sell zero-emission vehicles in key markets by the year 2040. The process, however, hasn't reportedly been as fast as was expected. The primary factors behind the slower pace, as stated by CNN, were low gas prices, insufficient charging infrastructure, and raised competition.

As per reports by Reuters, Sanshiro Fukao, executive fellow at Itochu Research Institute, spoke about the potential deal in question. Fukao said:

"This deal appears to be more about bailing out Nissan, but Honda itself is not resting on its laurels..."

As suggested by the outlet, if the merger between the two Japanese automakers happens, the outcome would be a $54 billion company with an annual output of 7.4 million vehicles. This would reportedly make the company the third-largest auto group in terms of vehicle sales, after Toyota and Volkswagen.