Greater choice in the car market isn’t the only change to come from the aggressive expansion of China’s auto industry. We can also expect to see a host of legacy carmakers buddying up to fight off that Chinese threat. And in Tokyo today, Honda and Nissan signaled their intent to do just that.
The plans are very much in the early stages, but the two brands have agreed to start a feasibility study looking into how they could work together to build EVs or EV parts as well as EV-related software. Honda President Toshihiro Mibe said the firms had yet to decide the details of the potential collaboration, Reuters reports, but Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida claims they are open to working together globally, and not just in Japan.
“Emerging players are very aggressive and are making inroads at incredible speed,” Uchida told journalists, alluding to the growing threat posed by Chinese automakers, though he will also have had Tesla in mind. “We cannot win the competition as long as we stick to conventional wisdom and a traditional approach,” he added. Nissan was an EV pioneer thanks to the launch of the Leaf in 2010, but it has failed to maintain that momentum in the electric space in recent years.
Related: Ford Knows Chinese EVs Pose ‘Colossal’ Threat, Eyes Alliances With Rivals
The Honda-Nissan tie-up might seem like a strange alliance, given that Nissan is already in bed with Renault and is currently working on a next-generation Micra that will ride on the same EV platform as the Renault 5 and even be built at the same factory in France. And to further complicate matters, Renault recently began pulling away slightly from Nissan and signed a deal with Chinese automaker Geely. But Nissan’s Uchida claims any joint program with Honda wouldn’t impact its agreement with Renault, which mostly affects the European market.
Honda also has its own joint ventures in place. In America, it uses GM Ultium tech to build and sell EVs wearing both Honda and Acura badges and has a separate deal with Sony that’s focused on bringing three electric cars to market by the end of the decade.
