Nissan and Honda seeking EV partnership amid 'new competition'

TOKYO -- Nissan Motor and Honda Motor announced that they had agreed to begin talks on a potential strategic partnership to collaborate on electric vehicles and automotive software, at a time when the two conventional carmakers are facing stiff competition from market newcomers.

"We've decided that the two companies need to bring together our strengths and start considering potential collaborations," Toshihiro Mibe, president and CEO of Honda, said at a joint press conference on Friday. He said that the two companies will consider "broad" cooperation in areas such as software for automobiles, batteries for EVs and "mutually complementary products," without going into further detail as the idea was at an early stage.