Japanese automakers Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi said Thursday they are ending talks on business integration.
Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida said the talks had changed focus from setting up a joint holding company to making Nissan a subsidiary of Honda.
“The intent was to join forces to win in the global competition, but this was not going to realize Nissan’s potential, so I could not accept it,” he told reporters. He said that Nissan was going to aim for a turnaround without Honda instead.
Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe said in a separate news conference that Honda had suggested a stock swap to speed up decision-making.
“I am really disappointed,” Mibe told reporters. “I felt the potential was great, but I also knew actions that would bring pain were necessary to realize that.”
The automakers agreed to end their agreement on considering a structure for a collaboration, a joint statement …