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Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to join forces and form the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels.

  • kaitco@lemmy.worldEnglish
    891·
    2 days ago

    This is a bad idea. As someone comes from a “Honda family”, I drive a Honda because I don’t want a Nissan.

    This feels like the quality of Hondas get to drop while the cost of Nissans get to jump. I fail to see how this benefits anyone.

    • andyburke@fedia.io
      89·
      2 days ago

      Alternative take: Honda fucked up by not going the EV route, now they’re behind. Nissan built a fuckton of Leafs and probably has at least some decent in-house EV expertise built up. Best case scenario you get good Honda EVs.

      It’s probably not going to be the best case scenario, though.

      • olympicyes@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        2 days ago

        Fun Fact. 1st Gen Nissan Leaf’s have such bad battery capacity that they have no resale value but they are very popular in southeast Alaska where gas prices are high and there really isn’t anywhere to go (they are all islands) so a 60 mile range isn’t a handicap.

      • Zetta@mander.xyzEnglish
        17·
        2 days ago

        Things aren’t always black and white. It could turn out to be an okay intermediate. I’m not too mad about the loss of competition here because there are quite a few new EV makers that are attempting to succeed in the market.

    • ChicoSuave@lemmy.worldEnglish
      30·
      2 days ago

      The merger isn’t supposed to help consumers. It’s to help businesses that are incapable of keeping up and need support. The Japanese government has a history of merging companies together to ensure that they stay competitive. MITI did it in the 70s to Japanese technology companies like Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, etc. most of those are still around today and even leading the industry.

      Again, this isn’t to help any consumers.

    • Cyborganism@lemmy.caEnglish
      14·
      2 days ago

      No it’s not going to be like that. I think they’re going to exchange patents and things like that to catch up to the EV markets. The Japanese are very conservative when it comes to technology, believe it or not. Because of the older people being higher in hierarchy. They don’t like change and disruption. Meanwhile in Korea and China, things have been moving fast and following the trends.

      • kameecoding@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        China is getting tarrifed out of the market, it’s really only Hyundai/Kia now to push the envelope at the moment and force competition (for EVs)

    • olympicyes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      Are you worried that this is like when Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas but the MD businessmen shoved out the engineers who ran Boeing?

      As an aside I didn’t love my Honda but it didn’t require an engine replacement out of warranty like my Nissan did. I appreciated that Nissan did the right thing but it was concerning to need a new engine due to a manufacturing defect.

    • BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      We’re just going to have to spend the next 20 years researching each model to figure out whether it was made by nissan guys in nissan plants or honda guys in honda plants. It will probably realistically be functionally separated for a long time. Hopefully, everything will settle closer to honda quality.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      93·
      2 days ago

      They’ll probably continue Nissan as the cheapest brand.

      If you want a luxury Honda, you should already just buy Acura.

          • WindyRebel@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            2 days ago

            That’s because that’s what they are. Plus a different styling, but i digress.

            Gotta appease that North American need for “luxury”.

            • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              2·
              2 days ago

              Thing is I can’t think of an actual “luxury” car on the American market short of Rolls Royce. Because everyone makes “luxury sports.” Like my dad’s Toyota Avalon that has way more horsepower than a front wheel drive full size sedan deserves.

              Give me a modern ‘78 El Dorado land yacht with quilted leather pillow seats that drives like a cumulus cloud across the summer sky. I like Rolls’ approach to horsepower: “Sufficient.” It has plenty of power to deliver Sir to his destination in extreme comfort and quiet.

      • psycho_driver@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        They get Mitsubishi in the deal since Nissan is their majority owner, so it will continue to be the budget nameplate most likely.