Last week we learned that Japanese officials asked Nissan and Honda to merge. Both companies said, “No thanks.” The automotive world was either denied a tremendous opportunity or spared a harrowing tragedy, depending on your perspective. Let’s say that the deal went through, though. What are the strengths or weaknesses that would make the partnership succeed or drag both firms down into irrelevance? Badness in this context could be bad meaning good, or just literally bad.
What would be the baddest Nissan-Honda combo?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What will your favorite cars be like when they become robots?”
The winner this week is returning champion Tom Westmacott, who offered a well thought-out argument for the K11 Nissan March (or Micra if you live in Europe). It’s not the typical giant robot fare, but Tom made a good case for it:
The K11 “March”
– small proportions with a friendly, cartoon face, easy for pilot to get into
– lightweight build, yet surprisingly durable
– walks with a bouncy gait, leans a lot but never topples over
– can sprint surprisingly quickly for its size
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I really understand why Honda didn’t want the merger with Nissan: Honda has been doing pretty well for the past few years. The reboot of the Civic Type-R, NSX and S660 really has put the company back in the spotlights and show the companies interest in what their consumers want. The total opposite is true for Nissan: it really has been struggling for the past years. The Ghosn scandal, aging lineup, slow sales and the struggling Infiniti brand are taking it’s toll. Of course we don’t know what will happen after the current economic downfall, but I would say Honda holds much better cards.
Apart from that the whole philosophy of both companies are very different. Often these philosophies, core values and mission statements are a bunch of corporate bulls#*t, but in the case of Honda and Nissan it’s clear they are very different. Honda is busy with fulfilling the (power of) dreams of individuals, while Nissan is busy with “enriching people’s lives” with their so called orchard model (seed, grow and harvest). Honda’s philosophy is breathing enthusiasm while Nissan’s philosophy sounds more like the average session of their boardroom meetings.
To be honest: I think only bad things would come out of such a merger. For instance there is still no successor to the GT-R and due to the lack of funds this actually might never happen. Perhaps the current car lives on another two years, but it would be 15 years old by then! Now imagine the two would merge, some Nissan CEO might actually come up with the idea (seed) to pass a rebodied Honda Civic Type-R or NSX as the GT-R successor to make some money (grow) and keep the brand afloat (harvest). Imagine the horror this would bring to true Nissan and Honda enthusiasts!
From a performance aspect, how about a new GT-R with Honda’s lighter weight engineering? Same for the 400Z.
Nissan can’t seem to trim the extra weight, imagine 400 pound’s off either of those models.
As I recall, some Nissan outboard motors were made by Honda. Can’t find the reference online.
Going forward, I really don’t see too much that makes for a decent Nissan-Honda mash-up. I would have said that Honda could use help from Nissan’s styling people, since their recent work has been a mess, but the Honda e, Sports EV, and fourth-gen Fit show they may have figured things out. And I can’t really think of anything that Nissan does that Honda would want. Nissan probably wouldn’t want much from Honda, either. Other than maybe the people in upper management…
But looking backwards, there is some very interesting stuff. We could throw the drivetrain from the R32 GT-R into a Legend. Or a Nissan Pulsar GTI-R drivetrain in a fifth-gen Civic hatch. Or the H22 motor sideways in an S15 Silvia.
Now those would be some very tasty treats indeed.
New Nissan Pike factory cars on a Honda E package. That’ll work
That’s a fabulous idea!
Looking back (surely the tooling has been preserved in a dark corner of some factory or other) how about plunking the F20C into the Sylvia. Imagine that 9k redline in that happy S13 chassis. Talk about Happy Motoring!
Looking forward I really have no interest in small Honda DI turbo engines in ugly Nissan SUVs, although the Honda K20 backed by a six speed manual would be a refreshing change in the not-bad Maxima, replacing the Nissan-mandatory CVT.
MID-4 NSX mashup.
if we’re talking about older cars, replace the sr20det in the s chassis with a proper k24a2- still makes the same hp, but NA so better response and ultimately more reliable
or even a k20 or f20c 510 haha
but if Nissan really were to work with Honda rn, Id say for nissan to use the cvts honda uses instead of their own garbage. also for them to replace the garbage VCT engine with the K20C turbo engines from honda
and Honda themselves could use a nissan truck frame from say the armada to make a proper, ruggedized Passport
Anything that leads to more Si/Type R Hondas, so a Honda Ridgeline with the Nissan Titan V8 would be awesome and maybe even badass. Lower it or lift it either way it would sound great and be a blast to drive. A Ridgeline Type R/Type Off-road whatever would certainly make it an easy choice for me when I trade my 2002 Silverado in next year.