In the summer of 2020 when the Financial Times reported that Japanese government officials had tried to merge Honda and Nissan, sceptics scoffed at the idea as akin to mixing “oil and water”. Nearly four years later, Japan’s second- and third-largest carmakers (behind Toyota) are planning to combine forces to develop electric cars in a bid to survive the coming wave of high-tech, low-cost models from China. While Honda has ruled out a capital tie-up with Nissan for now, the endeavour is the closest the two historic rivals have ever come in terms of working together.From the early days of their establishment, Nissan and Honda have taken very different paths to growth. When Nissan started in 1934, Yoshisuke Aikawa, its low-profile founder, built the group into a massive conglomerate during the prewar period through a series of aggressive acquisitions that were funded by taking its companies public. In the case of Soichiro Honda, the charismatic founder of the eponymous carmaker, he was famous for his go-it-alone strategy and is said to have criticised alliances for slowing things down. Until recently, that DNA has stayed with the company.
2020年夏天，當英國《金融時報》報導日本政府官員試圖合併本田(Honda)和日產(Nissan)時，持懷疑態度的人嘲笑這一想法類似於讓「油和水」混合。近四年後，日本第二和第三大汽車製造商（僅次於豐田(Toyota)）正計劃聯手開發電動汽車，以求在即將到來的中國高技術、低成本汽車的浪潮中生存下來。儘管本田目前已經排除了與日產的資本合作，但這一努力是這兩個宿敵有史以來最緊密的一次合作。