China Spanner in Honda-Nissan Merger

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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Dongfeng
https://insideevs.com/news/747439/donfgeng-honda-nissan-merger-n7/

  • Nissan and Honda both have separate relationships with Dongfeng Motor, a Chinese company responsible for producing some Honda and Nissan products in China.
  • The Nissan N7 is the production version of the first of the four EV and PHEV concepts it unveiled in collaboration with Dongfeng Motor at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show.
  • The Honda Ye series cars are also made by Dongfeng. (Dongfeng Honda)

It seems like there are a lot of models and development chains to untangle here. Not only are both brands intertwined with Dongfeng, but it’s not clear what products will be the winner at the end of the day. Honda has been adamant that it wants to share costs and potentially streamline development costs between both lineups, but it looks like they have a whole other brand in China where they’ve spent lots of money developing, manufacturing and marketing competing lineups of cars that likely have nothing to do with each other. Where does Dongfeng fall under all this stuff?

***While at a Honda roundtable at this year’s CES, I asked what would come of the relationships both Honda and Nissan have with Dongfeng. ***

“Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Honda are two different companies. Of course, we know the situation…but actually, the discussions are between [only] Honda and Nissan. Sooner or later, we will have to talk about it, but so there’s no conclusion over that,” said Katsushi Inoue, Honda’s Global Head of Electrification Business Development.

So corporate JCs jumped head first and hope it all works out.
Is that what taught in business school now days?

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In the late 90s, Office Depot and Staples, the two largest office supply “superstores” in the country announced they would merge. I laffed. The government blocked it. Apparently, some years later, OD and Staples tried to merge again. Again the government blocked it. Yes, seems the “JCs”, sitting in their echo chambers full of yes-men, are a rather self-deluded lot, that think they can get away with anything.

Steve