According to Kyodo News, Nissan Motor Corporation announced on the 16th that sales of new vehicles in the Chinese market decreased by 61.6% in September compared to the same period last year, reaching 23,658 units. Honda Motor Company saw a decrease of 53.1% in sales, reaching 25,564 units. Affected by factors such as increased competition from local Chinese automakers and rising gasoline prices, Japanese car manufacturers are continuing to struggle.
Nissan’s sales have declined for six consecutive months compared to the same period last year. Honda has experienced a decline for 32 consecutive months due to the delay in the launch of new models.
Previously, according to the Japan Economic News, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor reached an agreement on August 31 to jointly develop a vehicle operating system and vehicle computers. This technology is expected to be applied to new models as early as 2029.
According to reports, the collaboration between the two car companies will focus on ‘software-defined vehicles’, allowing vehicles to be upgraded wirelessly (OTA), just like smartphones. Led by Tesla and Chinese car manufacturers, software-defined vehicles are seen as a decisive factor in enhancing the competitiveness of cars in the coming years.
According to the agreement, Honda and Nissan will develop in-car software and hardware together. The new operating system and electronic control units will be partially based on Nissan's own technology, with inputs from Honda. This design will be useful for use in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuel-powered vehicles.
Honda and Nissan have been negotiating on intellectual property rights and other terms related to technical cooperation, and the agreement is nearing completion. Additionally, Mitsubishi Motors, which holds a stake in Nissan, will also consider adopting this technology.
As early as March 2024, Honda and Nissan announced their intention to explore cooperation, including those related to software-defined cars, and have already started collaborative efforts in basic research.
In December of that same year, Honda and Nissan announced the start of merger negotiations, but these negotiations quickly came to an end in February 2025. However, both parties continued to discuss cooperation at the project level.
In the 2025 fiscal year, Honda's global sales were 3.387 million units, a decrease of 8.8% year-on-year. The net loss reached 423.9 billion yen (approximately 17.83 billion yuan), compared to a profit of 835.8 billion yen (approximately 35.16 billion yuan) in the same period last year. Nissan's global sales were 3.15 million units, a decrease of 5.8% year-on-year. The net loss was 533.1 billion yen (approximately 22.43 billion yuan).
