We started hearing that Foxconn and other companies had expressed interest in joining the deal after the Honda-Nissan merger talks collapsed, but one of the world’s largest automakers apparently considered jumping into the fray. A recent report states that Toyota offered Nissan a helping hand after the talks ended, but neither company has confirmed or elaborated on the situation.
If true, the news wouldn’t be out of character for Toyota. The Japanese giant holds stakes in several other automakers, including Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, and Isuzu, so grabbing a chunk of Nissan would be just another day for Toyota.
Nissan swapped CEOs after the collapse, placing Ivan Espinosa in the top chair. His turnaround plan involves cutting up to 20,000 jobs and closing several of Nissan’s 17 global factories. Espinosa said the automaker would not rush to jump into future merger talks, noting that Nissan’s plan starts with internal changes.
That said, the automaker hasn’t shut the door on working with other companies. Espinosa said, “This is a very open review that we’re doing, and we are evaluating potential partners that will bring additional corporate value to Nissan. The most important thing is to have the right partner.”
So, while we might not see a Nissan-branded Toyota RAV4 driving around anytime soon, we could see the automaker partner with financing, tech, or business entities to further its turnaround efforts. “You could do integration, you could do capital investments, you could do spin off for certain business units,” Espinosa said, indicating that Nissan is eying all possible paths to right its ship.
[Images: Toyota, Nissan, Honda]
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