Thursday night, both the Financial Times and Japan Times reported that a high-level group of Japanese officials, including a former prime minister and a former Tesla board member, brewed up a plan to court Tesla to assume control of embattled Nissan. According to the Japan Times, the proposal was led by former Tesla board member Hiromichi Mizuno, with support from ex-premier Yoshihide Suga. The latter’s motivation: Some of Nissan’s manufacturing and other facilities are in Suga’s district, and Suga still sits in Japan’s lower house of parliament.
Musk Says Nope
There’s a lot of backtracking going on with these non-merger discussions. And the background is important: Talks with Honda apparently fell through in part because Honda felt like they were getting a raw deal from Nissan President Makoto Uchida, who didn’t want Nissan to become a subsidiary of Honda. Former Prime Mininster Suga’s office denied knowledge of the latter-hyped merger talks with Tesla, as did former Tesla board member Mizuno. Then Musk quickly rejected the very notion of taking advantage of Nissan’s manufacturing in Tennessee and Mississippi, supposedly the upside for Tesla in the looming anvil of coming Trump White House tariffs this April on all foreign goods.
At 1:06 AM Eastern, Musk tweeted: “The Tesla factory IS the product. The Cybercab production line is like nothing else in the automotive industry.” Apparently Musk’s meaning there is that conventional transportation is last century’s technology and robotaxis, rather than Pathfinders and Frontiers, are what Americans want. To be fair, sales of Nissans are down during the carmaker’s turmoil, but how exactly do you pick up a load of mulch or your kids from soccer practice in a nonexistent robotaxi? If Tesla isn’t planning on making a more affordable Model 3 or something like that, the company’s already damaged sales are unlikely to see an uptick.
TopSpeed’s Take
Nissan shares fell on Friday after they were bolstered overnight by the brief dalliance with Tesla, and rating agency Moody’s downgraded the stock to junk status. As for a rescue of Nissan, there’s still Taiwan’s Foxconn (maker of iPhones) waiting in the wings. But the Financial Times reported that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is worried about national security and how Foxconn could be too much of a buddy with China. The tie with a partner like Tesla would’ve provided a buffer against Foxconn’s total control of Nissan.
Foxconn is already a carmaker, by the way, and having access to U.S. markets would be a smart move. No matter what, there is a logic for some automaker to want Nissan’s manufacturing capacity in North America, because building capacity is onerous and costly, and with tariffs looming, carmakers are going to need it. Eventually, for that reason alone, Nissan is likely to find a willing dance partner.
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