A ‘Nissan’ senior official: “We have 12 or 14 months to survive”

Photo: FT

Nissan is searching for an anchor investor to help it survive a make-or-break year as longtime partner Renault sells down its holding in the crisis-hit Japanese carmaker, ‘The Financial Times’ writes.

Two people with knowledge of the talks said Nissan was seeking a long-term, steady shareholder such as a bank or insurance group to replace some of Renault’s equity holding, as Nissan finalises the terms of its new electric vehicle partnership with arch-rival Honda.

“We have 12 or 14 months to survive,” said a senior official close to Nissan. Nissan has not ruled out having Honda buy some of its shares, with “all options” being considered, as it launches a series of restructuring measures on the back of declining sales in both China and the US, the people said.

In addition, people close to Renault said it would be open to selling a portion of its shares in Nissan to Honda as part of a restructuring of its 25-year-old Nissan alliance.

Nissan and Honda have stepped up partnership talks to develop EVs and software technology amid intense pressure from Chinese rivals and greater uncertainty in the US following Donald Trump’s re-election as president.

“This is going to be tough. And in the end, we need Japan and the US to be generating cash,” said the senior official close to Nissan. After failing to capture the recent boom in popularity of hybrid sales in the US, Nissan is planning a series of key product launches in the coming months and years.

Since announcing their partnership in August, both Japanese companies had played down the possibility of a capital tie-up, with one person close to Nissan saying Honda buying a stake remained “a last resort”.

Nissan declined to comment on the search for an anchor investor and the possibility of Honda buying a stake but added: “The partnership with Honda is strategically very important, and we hope to accelerate the realisation of the results of our activities through regular progress at the management level of both companies.”

Honda declined to comment.

Although Renault is not directly involved in the talks, it could be open to collaborating with Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi as carmakers pool efforts to develop EVs in response to China’s strength in the industry, the people familiar with the matter said. Renault said in a statement there were no discussions, however, about a broader partnership. It added that it was supportive of a “potential win-win between Nissan and Honda”.

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