Reuters (January 28)
“Japan’s car market is ripe for consolidation. Years of falling sales both at home and abroad had already been putting financial pressure on several of the country’s seven major automakers.” The Nissan/Honda merger fell through, “but a Suzuki Motor takeover of Mazda Motor would be a smart move.”
Tags: Abroad, Automakers, Car market, Consolidation, Falling sales, Financial pressure, Honda, Japan, Mazda, Merger Suzuki, Nissan, Smart
Reuters (July 15)
“Toyota and Hyundai Motor may have a beef with U.S. protectionism, but they have one thing in common with President Donald Trump: when it comes to global car markets, it’s America first for Asia’s legacy automakers.” With the outlook “upended” by Trump’s tariffs, the U.S. still “remains by far the most important market for Japan’s Toyota, South Korea’s Hyundai and Asian rivals including Honda and Nissan. North America accounts for at least 40% of the revenue at both Toyota and Hyundai.”
Tags: Car markets, Honda, Hyundai, Japan, Legacy automakers, Nissan, Outlook, Protectionism, South Korea, Tariffs, Toyota, Trump, U.S., Upended
Reuters (December 18)
“If only M&A solved everything. Japan’s Nissan Motor and Honda Motor certainly need help.” A merger, possibly involving Mitsubishi Motors as well, could potentially achieve cost cuts, “but as Stellantis’s woes show, tie-ups alone don’t create great manufacturers.”
Tags: Cost cuts, Honda, Japan, M&A, Manufacturers, Merger, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Stellantis, Tie-ups, Woes
Reuters (November 29)
“It’s time for Toyota Motor’s two biggest domestic rivals to deal with their problems by joining forces. Nissan Motor’s woes are the more obvious: poor results prompted the $9 billion manufacturer into an emergency overhaul this month. But $40 billion Honda Motor’s autos unit is subpar, too. Welding them together would give scope to cut costs, charge earnings and invest more efficiently and effectively in electric vehicles and other technology.”
Tags: Costs, Earnings, Effectively, Efficiently, Emergency, EVs, Honda, Nissan, Overhaul, Results, Rivals, Technology, Toyota, Woes
The Guardian (January 8)
“The former Nissan boss is right to point the finger at a legal system that the UN has described as ‘medieval.’” While he may not be a sympathetic character, Carlos Ghosn’s “allegations are not far-fetched” to “anyone familiar with the Japanese justice system.”
Tags: Allegations, Ghosn, Japan, Legal system, Medieval, Nissan, Right, UN
South China Morning Post (January 5)
“The truth is more likely to emerge now that Ghosn and Nissan can each tell their own stories.” This “might not only give Ghosn a chance to salvage his reputation but also prompt Japan to reflect on whether its justice and corporate governance systems serve its best interests amid competitive globalisation.”
Tags: Best interests, Corporate governance, Ghosn, Globalisation, Japan, Justice, Nissan, Reputation, Salvage, Truth
Bloomberg (September 10)
“In Japan, is there one standard of justice for Japanese executives and another for non-Japanese executives? The forced resignation on Monday of Nissan Motor Co.’s chief executive officer, Hiroto Saikawa, certainly seems to suggest as much.” At this point, “would any non-Japanese manager really be interested in taking the helm at Nissan given what happened to Ghosn? It’s a little hard to envision.”
Tags: CEO, Executives, Japan, Japanese, Justice, Nissan, Non-Japanese, Resignation, Saikawa, Standard
Forbes (February 18)
“Drawn by generous incentives and the opportunity to sell directly into a unifying Europe, the car industry became a poster child for inward investment.” Now the survival of this industry in the UK is at stake. Honda’s scheduled plant closing “comes after last month’s announcement of up to 4,500 job losses at Jaguar Land Rover and news that Nissan’s new X-Trail model is to be made in Japan, not Sunderland.” Furthermore, “Toyota and Ford have warned of negative consequences in the case of Britain editing the European Union without a negotiated deal.”
Tags: Car industry, EU, Europe, Ford, Honda, Incentives, Investment, Jaguar Land Rover, Job losses, Nissan, Survival, Toyota, UK
Wall Street Journal (December 16)
“Not everybody at Nissan was happy with their rock-star chairman, Carlos Ghosn. His high-living ways gave the company ammunition to take him down.”
Tags: Ammunition, Chairman, Ghosn. High-living, Happy, Nissan, Rock-star
Wall Street Journal (December 10)
Carlos Ghosn’s reported plan to fire CEO Hiroto Saikawa “adds a new twist to the drama inside Nissan…. While that internal investigation was going on, Mr. Ghosn was growing increasingly dissatisfied with Mr. Saikawa’s handling of business problems at Nissan including a slowdown in U.S. sales and repeated quality issues in Japan, say people familiar with the matter.”
Tags: CEO, Dissatisfied, Drama, Fire, Ghosn, Investigation, Nissan, Quality issues, Saikawa, Slowdown, Twist, U.S.
