HONDA AND NISSAN JOIN FORCES TO BUILD ELECTRIC VEHICLES

By Éric Descarries

Feeling the pressure from rivals like Tesla and several other manufacturers in China, Japanese companies Honda and Nissan are teaming up to produce electric vehicles (EVs). In a surprise meeting, Toshihiro Mibe, president of Honda, and Makoto Uchida, president of Nissan, the two companies being the second and third largest in the Land of the Rising Sun, recently made the official announcement. Ironically, Nissan was one of the pioneers of the electric car in the past, marketing its Leaf.

For the moment, no concrete plans have been announced, and there has been no mention of vehicle sharing. However, without having made any official declaration, some of these projects could well be entrusted to factories outside Japan. Discussions at the meeting focused on plans to share powertrain components and battery research.