Honda Wants to Kick Renault Out of the Nissan Merger, Report Says

The plot thickens in the proposed merger between Honda and Nissan. Those familiar with the corporate automotive space will know French automaker Renault currently owns 35.7 percent of Nissan. It seems Honda doesn’t like that. The Japanese automaker reportedly prefers to merge with a wholly owned Nissan, and has asked if the company can buy those shares back. That would require about $3.6 billion per at current exchange rates.

It doesn’t appear to be a personal grudge between automakers. According to Bloomberg, Honda is concerned that Renault’s stake could be purchased by some unknown third party while the merger plans are underway, possibly upending the process. There’s certainly reason for concern—shortly before the merger talks became official, we heard rumors that Foxconn was interested in buying Renault’s stake. With this merger potentially creating one of the world’s largest automotive conglomerates, we can understand why Honda wants to keep things streamlined.

By default, this also suggests Renault may not be hip to the Honda-Nissan deal. The official press release announcing the merger made no mention of the French brand despite its sizable ownership stake in Nissan. A brief follow-up announcement from Renault simply said the company would “consider all options based on the best interest of the Group and its stakeholders.”

Representatives for Nissan and Honda declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg.

It’s worth noting that at this stage, Honda and Nissan are still determining if a merger is even viable. That decision should come by the end of January. If it’s a go, more comprehensive actions will be taken to bring the companies together in late 2026. Presumably, any potential action by Nissan to buy out Renault’s stake won’t happen until the end of January, at the earliest. And there are still doubts that Nissan can even afford it.

If everything falls into place, a new holding company will be created not unlike Stellantis. Honda and Nissan will still exist separately with individual lineups, but platforms and technology will be shared. Mitsubishi, the other automaker in the decades-old Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance, has expressed interest in joining the conglomerate but hasn’t yet made an official decision.