Nissan considering car development with Honda in US, Nikkei reports

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TOKYO (Reuters) -Nissan Motor is considering a joint project for vehicle and powertrain development with Honda Motor in the U.S., Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa told the Nikkei business daily on Thursday.

Nissan and Honda said last December they were in talks to merge but in February the two Japanese automakers ended the discussions, which were strained by disagreements including over the balance of power. There are currently no talks over a merger or capital alliance, the Nikkei cited Espinosa as saying.

Nissan said in a statement that the company continues to explore opportunities to collaborate with Honda in electrification and vehicle intelligent technologies, but added that it did not have any updates to share. 

The U.S. is the top auto market by volume for both companies. Nissan has suffered in the U.S. from a lack of hybrid vehicles, which is one area in which Honda is strong. 

Nissan has been considering producing pickup trucks for Honda at its U.S. plants, where usage is currently low, the Nikkei said, citing unnamed sources. Espinosa told the Nikkei that Nissan is considering various options.

The Yokohama-based automaker said last week its North American sales grew almost 7% in the second quarter, benefiting from a more focused marketing effort and a greater emphasis on retail business over fleet sales.

For Honda, the U.S. accounts for more than two-fifths of global sales volumes. The company downgraded its annual operating profit outlook last week in part due to heavy fallout from a shortage of chips from Nexperia.

That led it to slash its forecast for this fiscal year’s vehicle sales in North America by 110,000 units.

(Reporting by Daniel Liessink, Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Jan Harvey and Louise Heavens)