Arab News Japan

DUBAI: The former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said he did not think the Honda and Nissan alliance will materialize, in an interview with the Asia Times.

Ghosn explained that he predicts a “takeover.”

“What I believe is that there could be a takeover. The Japanese government might decide that it can’t let Nissan collapse. But as you know, a takeover is not an alliance. It’s just a takeover, which also means that the company taking control is going to do it its own way and get rid of what it doesn’t need. That may happen,” he said.

Ghosn told the Asia Times that Nissan is unlikely to file for bankruptcy, adding that the automotive company needs “money and investment.”

Adding to his forecast of Nissan’s future, the former chairman said that Honda has always been “fiercely independent” and therefore, never established an alliance.

“They’ve bragged over the years that they’re the little guy going alone against Toyota,” he said.

Ghosn, who shocked the world in 2019 by escaping from Japan to Lebanon, told the Asian media outlet that after he left Nissan, everything “collapsed.”

He attributed this “collapse” to not only his departure, but to a dozen other people who had left with him at the time.

José Muñoz, CEO of Hyundai Motor Co., was “one of the most promising talents at Nissan. Several weeks after my arrest, he left,” Ghosn added.

On Wednesday, Honda and Nissan began discussing a possible merger, the clearest sign yet of how Japan’s once seemingly unbeatable auto industry is being reshaped by challenges from Tesla and Chinese rivals.

A combined Honda and Nissan would create a $54 billion company with annual output of 7.4 million vehicles, making it the world’s third-largest auto group by vehicle sales after Toyota and Volkswagen.

The two firms had already forged a strategic partnership in March to cooperate in electric vehicle development, but Nissan’s deepening financial and strategic trouble in recent months has added more urgency for closer cooperation with larger rival Honda.

Nissan announced a $2.6 billion cost savings plan last month that includes cutting 9,000 jobs and 20% of its global production capacity, as slumping sales in China and the U.S. led to a 85% plunge in second-quarter profit.