Let me just preface by saying: I do not hate Nissan. As a matter of fact, I had owned a 2001 and (later) a 2002 Nissan Sentra GXE; loved both of them. Those were well-made vehicles. The Renault merger, however, seriously diminished the brand. And I fear for Honda for that reason exactly.
Your B15 Sentra was produced under Renault acquisition. How would nissan affect their quality or image? Nissan just needs to work on their cvts. Nothing wrong with their engines on a whole. if anything, they build better turbo engines.
@@XenomorphLV426 The Sentra of my generation was designed by Nissan before the merger; i.e., before Renault starting cutting corners. Avoid the subsequent gen and thereafter like the plague.
@@youfrancis interesting, because that gen of Sentra (2002-2006, SE-R+ models) had a couple major issues The subsequent generation of Sentra and Altimas was actually superior IF you purchased a manual variant. I think if honda helped with transmission reliability, Nissan could be back to their A game.
Yea I would bet good money they are going to use the reputation of Honda to sell cheaply made built to fail cars with costs cut in every possible way, part costs 2x etc.
Carlos Ghosn actually ruined the company, he was known in Japan as the hatchet man because he fired so many employees and closed so many factories in japan, he brought engines designed from the French to nissan, and we know how reliable the french are at engines. his push for cutting costs by pushing the jatco cvt transmissions ruined the company. Nissan was such a great company like the 300z , 240 sx and maxima models. its such as shame. Ghosn is on the interpol list of criminals , they should bring him back to get justice for nissan.
I totally agree, Carlos is right out of General Motors central casting. I see him being interviewed from time to time when the automotive industry is being discussed on new shows.
He also embezzled a fortune from Nissan as well. Between that and his decisions while at the helm of Nissan, especially legacy costs and setting up Nissan to bleed money in the future all were very strong contributors to Nissan’s current state of affairs. He bounced to his home country which happens to be a non-extraditing country.
This is bad because Honda is known for attention to detail and reliability. Now as a combined brand with some of the lowest attention to detail and lowest reliability, it may affect perception of Honda's overall. If Honda were smart, they would immediately scale down Nissan to diminish their negative effect and openly share in one direction to Nissan vs taking anything from them which would be viewed as suspect as reliable and well designed.
Nissan's diesels are reliable as all hell. I can see if Honda borrows Nissan's diesel knowledge and Nissan borrows Honda's CVT knowledge then I could see a bunch of good cars being made.
Both companies have their pro's and con's. Nissan's problems were due to reliability in their cvt's and maybe some cheap 4 cylinder QR engines for their low-credit/rental fleet people movers. But Nissan makes the best V6's out of Japan's big three. And in terms of manufacturing, Nissan has been bigger in scalability. They make body-on-frame trucks, rwd platforms, and EV's. Honda makes better 4 cylinder, FWD cars and their CVT's been more reliable. But both Nissan and Honda have been behind Toyota in the hybrid game.. and thats really where the future is heading.
I thought this at first too (I was worried that Nissan would take Honda down), but *to be fair* Nissan's larger vehicles are not too bad. Vehicles like Patrol (I think it's called the Armada) in the US even the Nissan Fuga (Q80), Nissan Skyline (Q50), GT-R of course, and so on were and are not too bad. It was the small cars with the Renault-influence where Nissan had quality issues, but even then Nissan fans seem to say the worst of that is behind them and the new, current models Rogue, Juke and so are much better in terms of quality than those from the mid-2010's. Obviously Honda knows small and mid-size cars, and with Nissan's knowledge of body on frame midsize pickups, 4x4 and rear wheel drive platforms (though the sports sedans are mostly going away) there could be good synergies. They both don't have enough capital invest in battery EVs by themselves, so teaming up on that for economies of scale is probably the best way to go.
Congrats on your son's achievement! I am sure you are extremely proud! Despite working for/with BMW most of my life, my first car was a Honda (3rd Gen Prelude like the one on the book cover! lol) and I've been a true Honda guy ever since.... hearing this piece of news was definitely out of nowhere to think those two would merge is crazy. Thanks for your content as always 👍👍
In Japanese culture, a straight-out "No" is practically impossible. It would be the equivalent of slapping someone's face. "Muzukashii," (難しい), which I often heard when I lived in Japan, is translated as "Difficult" but, with most Japanese/English translations it seems, exact equivalents are rare. It is often understood as "No." By the way, excellent pronunciation Eric. Toshihiro Mibe = "Toe She He Row Me Bay", but without stress on any syllable, (at least to the usual English speaking person's ears). Happy to see you back on YT!
Years ago Studebaker & Packard merged. Some engineer said, "it's like 2 drunks trying to help each other across the street." Hope that does not apply to this.
Let’s look at a more recent example. Hyundai Kia. They’re doing just fine. Nissan’s problem can be solved - attractive designs (Honda is decent at this) and more reliable transmissions (Honda’s CVT is great). Honda can maybe leverage Nissan for electric R&D. Bring that tech and 4x4 Truck tech over to Honda to do more off-road and PHEV.
@@n9wox Sort of. Did you know that STP was a Studebaker brand? It stands for Studebaker Transportation Products. Last I checked STP is still around today so Studibaker isn't completely gone from history. At least to nerds that know where STP came from.
@@ETCG1whoah! talk about knowledge! thanks for coming back! You help me a lot years ago to do repairs on my truck. Just by watching your videos. So thanks a lot! It’s been almost 14 years since I saw your first video.
Nissans from the 80s and 90s were the best with the hardbody pickup, sentra, and pathfinder. If Nissan would build simple vehicles at fair prices like they used to, people would be fighting over them.
Yep, he was the MAN in the automotive / motorcycle world! He'd engineer things that a mechanic could NOT screw up in any possible way! Things were intuitive. The total opposite of the way ANYTHING is manufactured today.
Remote emissions is a good way to put it. But it’s important to note that a power plant, even burning fossil fuels, is much easier to control emissions than millions of cars in varying levels of disrepair. From an emissions standpoint, we are ahead in using EV’s. Whether or not that translates through the entire supply chain is another question entirely
Yeah, I think it is bologna too. TIRES pollute more than anything - well aside from Jet engines and manufacturing plants etc... EV's are not the answer. To sustain our electrical infra which includes the rise of Ai, Bitcoin mining, commercial rel-estate, residential, just the TSMC in Phoenix AZ uses power equivalent to 200k homes. So you would need to deploy SMR's - Terra Power, NuScale, OKLO, and Westinghouse - IMO
EVs charged from a coal fired power station are still less emissions than internal combustion engines, but this comparison is unfair towards EVs as coal is one of the dirtiest fuels, a power station run from petrol, diesel or crude would be less emissions and more efficient. 'Remote' emissions ignores the point that the power grid is transitioning to lower emissions generation, as this continues EVs will become closer and closer to zero emissions rather than remote emissions. Yes, there are still emissions associated with manufacturing, batteries, tyres, etc, but these are either the same as internal combustion engines or very quickly offset by efficiency and emmisions gains from EVs.
Not sure how that math works out. If you have more electric vehicles, you will need to produce more electricity. More electricity in an ICE burning power plant, means more emissions. I don't believe you can change the laws of physics just because you're charging electric vehicles instead of running a washing machine.
@@ETCG1 Yes, but the less ICEs on the road, in exchange for EVs, will produce less greenhouse gasses, overall. ICE vehicle manufacturing puts out a lot of greenhouse gasses as well. But, if you swap ICEs for EVs, and we reach that tipping point where there could be more EVs than ICEs being produced, then there would definitely be less greenhouse gasses being produced if you add up the greenhouse emissions that are put out by the manufacturing processes, plus the zero emissions that are put out directly by the EVs as they operate on a daily basis. And eventually, as someone else mentioned here, the industry is working towards zero production emissions, or at least near zero. We have to give ideas and technology a chance to catch up.
Happy New Year, Eric! Honda could adopt the full-size pickup line from Nissan and develop a Honda powerplant and transmission. Maybe a J35 (after the camshaft bearing issues get corrected) with an electric motor to meet the "hybrid" movement?
@@CJColvin, I thought about that, but it would be against the electric trend all car manufacturers are following. Yes, I agree and would like a Honda V8 power plant.
When I worked at Nissan in 2015 we moved mostly lease cars or financed nicely equipped trucks like Frontier or SUVs. We had a truck and commercial vehicle program but it wasn't properly promoted. Also we got a new Titan and it got ZERO promotion. My work truck was a Titan. Most reliable work truck ever even at 300k miles
I'm going to be a first time dad and my first Daughters Birthday in a few more hours. Thanks for always helping ETCG1. Been watching you for about a decade now. Thanks for wishing us all a happy birthday. Now my daughter is going to be a part of this. 🎉
@ noapologie... are you saying that ETCG helped you procreate? That's weird.. Also shouldn't take a decade. More seriously..good luck. The only parental advice I thought was right on was that it goes fast! Be there! More important than anything, I think.
I like Honda, not because of the cars, but Honda CBX motorcycles. I owned 5 of them, one of each model year, plus one. I’ve never owned a Japanese car, I’m a Ford & GM guy.
And not to mention the legitimate efficiency gains by producing all that energy at a single source comparative to the inifficiency of ICEs in cars. Nothing is truly ZERO emissions. Us breathing is an emission. Centralizing, controlling them and increasing efficiency is the key poing of gain with this particular method. Is it perfect? Oh hell nah, of course not. But it seems a reasomable solution if implemented responsibly. Which so far i find lacking.
I can agree to that. But let's also include the mining and other environmental 'cost' associated with the production of the EV. We can't just ignore that lithium mining is not good for the environment. In fact, I think that's the exact same thinking that got us here to begin with. If we are so focused on the result that we ignore the cost of getting there, can we really call it progress? How does EV improve the environment? I mean, really? Big picture, cradle to grave, is EV actually better for the environment?
I guess Eric doesn't see too many of those as they don't come to the US. Chinese cars are very common in Australia, even though we only get about 5-6 brands (there are like 50+ domestic auto brands in China!).
It will likely create issues for Honda but long term they will come out ok. I would expect the Japanese government will nudge things in their favor to make this work
Honda will benefit from Nissan's expertise on building turbo engines that don't dilute fuel and engine oil, or overheat at the track. Nissan engines are very solid. Nissan could benefit from CVT reliability assistance.
Ultimately it could be interesting to see their combined take on enthusiast vehicles, but what will more than likely be the result (as we’ve seen MANY times before) when sectors consolidate you see less competition, when there’s less competition prices go up
Or like Boeing when they absorbed McDonnel Douglas. We'll see the results in 2-3 years if Honda kept an engineering focus or allowed the MBA's to rise to C-Suite.
@@boots7859 To be fair, with Nissan the bean-counting was from Renault. Nissan themselves pushed their variable compression engine to market (it's been across much of the range for 5 years now), so in some ways Nissan are quite engineering led.
It’s definitely a flop and Honda is essentially leasing them out for free right now. I almost pulled the trigger on one because the offer was too good to pass up.
Honda has already ended their partnership with GM. The car has gotten good reviews so far but its going to be a single generation car and then ended once they build their own electric.
I think that if they made this a real honest to god merger, they both could come out supreme. combine honda's reliable CVTs and nissan's reliable diesels and you have one unit of a reliable car bracket. I'm gonna be hopeful and hope that they actually combine their knowledge if they get merged.
Interesting take. Problem is Japan is a consensus style people, gov't, etc. Unless Honda is top dog and willing to push the higher standards across new Mgmt/structure, expect to see the Boeingization of Honda as Nissan/Mitsubishi bring them down.
In the beginning Nissan built Great cars. The problem they had was they didn't know how much the cars they were building cost and they were selling them way below that price which is a guaranteed way to go out of business. Well they sold the company to Renault and Peugeot Who started using cheap parts which in turn caused a lot of problems and damaged the reputation of Nissan. It was using these cheap parts that made the Japanese government look at the CEO that Peugeot Sent to run Nissan company. Japan is all about prestige and they hold companies responsible for reputation. Would that merger be good? Time will tell.
I recently inherited a 2007 Civic si. I’ve never owned a Japanese car. It seems to be well designed and assembled. Pretty impressive quality. Parts are pretty expensive! Probably going to get more with the coming tariffs.
I'm no fanboy but I always liked Nissans, they have a much cooler DNA than Toyota for sure and took far more risk than Honda which follows a very modular (boring) design approach. Nissan made the Z series, Skyline series, RWD platforms, trucks, sports cars, competitive luxury cars. They had a bunch of different designs that were ahead of the industry 30-40 years ago (inline 6s, turbocharged 4s, twin turbocharging, chain driven valvetrain, world's best DOHC V6s, DOHC V8s and V12s, 4 wheel steering, fully electronic AWD). Like Mazda, they were are an engineering powerhouse with a fraction of the resources of Honda and Toyota, people shouldn't forget that.
Right on! I hate that Nisssan gets so much hate. They've made some of the best stuff out there. Even their "junk" isn't quite as bad as some make it out to be. And I'll still say, for the most part, Nissan always made a better truck than Toyota.
@@whois3581 " I hate that Nisssan gets so much hate." The way products went downhill after 2000 (thanks Renault?) is why, I guess. The Nissan Sentra from the 90's was a pretty nice car... The Nissan Tiida (Versa in the USA) from the 2000's however? Not so much. Pretty much everything about it is worse than the Sentra that came before. You could see the Renault Megane styling influence, the interior was a lot cheaper, the exterior was ugly. The Versa didn't have many upsides apart from a low price and being somewhat reliable with a manual transmission!
@@TassieLorenzo As the Sentra grew, the Versa was the small baby replacement, just like the Fit/Jazz to Civic, or the Echo/Yaris to Corolla. The Versa was pretty ugly, but not that much worse than other equivalents in that range. And I still see plenty of them, and other models, still running around more so than equivalent Hyandai/Kia/Chevy/Ford or many other makes of those years. They weren't completely horrible, and still better than plenty of others, but people act like they're the absolute worse of the worse. Nissan still had really good trucks, some great sport cars, and overall plenty of good styling on a lot of their models. Plenty of ugly ones, but every brand has had their fair share of ugly ones. Even Toyotas interior is known to not be all that great. Nissan just gets a bit extra hate, a little more than they should. There's some others reasons for it too. They marketed to and approved lower income buyers as a cheaper alternative, along with fleet vehicle market, and a lot of those people don't take care of their stuff like someone willing to pay a bit more for a Honda/Toyota. Although Nissan's CVT are pretty bad, I've still seen plenty for sale with 250k miles and still running. Most likely someone that took basic care of their car and changed fluid regularly.
Maybe I'm getting old. But in my mind, Nissan haven't made any cool cars since the 90s. Toyota might be boring, but again because of the olds, I would take the boring reliable Toyota. Nissan will poison Honda, plain and simple.
I am excited of them putting there engineering brains together and making something spectacular also consulting veteran mechanics and technicians so future repairs don’t clash with stuff being in the way of said repair
Why doesn’t the Japanese govt tell Nissan, “Build better cars and people buy from you”? Making junk and financial scandals are a stain (baggage) Honda doesn’t need.
The one positive I see is that Nissan could bring a legit 4WD drivetrain to Honda. Ridgeline and CRVs with legit 4WD, lifted a bit, would be nice rigs. An EV version of the Fit would be a winner too. The recent success of Chinese auto companies (think BYD) is going to drive mergers and some brands going out of business.
They don’t need it, most people who drive those don’t even need them. Adding the complexity of a hi-lo range transfer case would require the vehicle to be revamped. The Ridgeline is perfectly capable for doing light to moderate offloading. I really don’t understand why there’s so many trucks and big SUVs sold here in America because I never see those things doing any work near their capacity. Plus, I’m not sure I want to spend $50,000 or $100,000 as I have seen some of these vehicles dressed up to take it off road and possibly damage. There really should be a surcharge on SUVs and trucks if it comes with anything other than crank windows and a rubber mat. Put a 40% luxury tax on those and people will change their minds real quick over owning one of those behemoth just for a status symbol or to be able to sit up high.
I hope they bring Mitsubishi in, they are a hidden gem (or should I say hidden CrystalMover). All 3 have things to bring to the table. Honda: reliable in-house transmissions for bigger FWD vehicles, Atkinson engines for hybrids (and low-HP vehicles), reliable CVTs Nissan: Body-on-frame platforms, batteries for BEVs (Ariya) and hybrids, Zero Gravity Seats Mitsubishi: PHEV systems (especially electrical parts like motors and inverters), E-AWD for CUVs, S-AWC
Ghosn fired so many good engineers that when Honda rocks up to the Nissan engineering HG, three raccoons in a lab coat will run skittering away across the parking lot.
Owned both. Still own my Suzuki equator which is a rebadged Nissan frontier. Love it. Daughter has an a Acura & loves it. And look at it this way, Honda will have a real truck now.
It's important to note that Nissan and Renault did not merge, they both now own a 15% share in each other so it is an strategic partnership. Many car companies have partnerships with or without equity shares where they share technology, co-develop engines, transmissions, or sister models. Partnerships are limited can can be reduced or cancelled without problems, whereas undoing a merger is only really done if it has gone really sour and you want to cut your losses (ie Mercedes in the DaimlerChrysler "merger").
It seems many people have forgotten about Nissan’s many automotive innovations and success: SR20DE engines going back to 1990 were arguably 10 years ahead of Honda Acura economy offerings at the time, skylines held the Nuremberg ring records for production vehicles for years, nissan pioneered viscous limited slip differentials were bullet proof and gave front drive vehicles awd performance (10 years before others started using viscous limited clutches in their awd systems), the Nissan leaf was truly the first mass produced EV and beat Tesla sales until about 2018, the skyline GTR continues to be an amazing supercar with many wins behind its name, although a failure Nissan beat Toyota to the punch with not only a full-size truck but with a Cummins diesel offering.
Eric, check out what happened to Yamaha a year ago (SEP 2023). It started a joined venture with CFMOTO from China but I'm sure Yamaha will be pushed out of the market one day. CFMOTO now makes 'Yamaha quality' bikes at 30~35% lower prices (for Mexico at least). So yes, Nissan does not want this to happen with them as well.
I always wished Nissan would've made bikes back in the day, and that Honda would've made small pickups. Some 90s era Nissan dirt bikes in the back of a small Honda pickup would've been awesome.
I hope I get to see 1 day a nissan 450z with 4.5l v8 😁👍🏼, or nissans with reliable transmissions, and floor pans that last more than 5 years without rust 🙏
I’ve hated Nissan products ever since the Renault merge. I’ve hated Hondas ever since their “earth dream” engines came out. Give me another civic HF with 50 mpg!
I wonder if a secondary thought for Honda is looking to leverage some of Nissan’s truck experience to compete with Toyota. Nissan Frontier, although not on the frontier of design, is a solid architecture to start from. And the Titan, although the 2nd generation never really took off, was also a solid build and a great head start in designing a competitor for Tacoma/Tundra.
I own an old 2015 Leaf, love that car for running around town. Walmart, the super market, doctors, hospitals, etc. are all within 20 miles from my house, most less then 10. Then I just charge it in my garage. My sister has a newish (like 5 years old) Rogue, it's a great car. The company needs leadership but they still make great cars as far as I can tell. I do not like mergers, it just makes for less competition.
The problem with Nissan at this point in time is they know how important it is to have flagship vehicles. They have the GT-R, PATROL/SAFARI and the Z, but their regular vehicles don't share enough technology, style or reliability with those to sell or even be any good compared to competitors.
The article I read talked about Subaru Toyota and Mitsubishi? And maybe Isuzu? Already being aligned and having a jump on EV's already. Since Nissan had an early jump, they thought Honda could take advantage of that. You are spot on. As much as Chinese people love sushi, historically they do hate the Japanese because of all the war atrocities during WW II. That being said, the last couple of generations have either softened their stance or just let it go completely. As of right now Taiwan, South Korea Japan and the majority of the Asia Pacific region have become aligned because of Mainland China and their penchant for threatening violence and ongoing trade embargos, with the Aussies, etc... But yes, it may be that blocking Foxconn out is one of the reasons. Especially with China constantly threatening to take Taiwan back by force. When Hong Kong reverted back to China, many thought it wouldn't change much since it is one of the global financial centers. The Chinese government was more concerned with making it an example of crushing dissent and making everyone fall into line with Beijing, so the added fear of China taking over Foxconn/Nissan is certainly real.
I am excited about this as I have a new Nissan vehicle. I think that if Honda can supply new Transmissions to Nissan - Their going to do well. I think Honda could use a lower tier Nissan model in their lineup. Also, The Frontier is a body on Frame option to the Honda truck market. Honda can shrink the Ridgeline to compete with the Ford Maverick. And the Nissan can be Honda's truck focus. Plus, I'm happy because my Extended warranty will be secure, and I won't have to worry about Nissan going out of business.
As a Mitsubishi master tech since 2010, I'll say we sell the best version of a Rouge you can buy as the 22+ Outlander, but my god they have unbelievably stupid and expensive problems that MMC/MMNA products could never dream of suffering from. The MMC/Nissan/Renault 'Alliance Platform' seems to be falling apart, as Nissan has divested from owning controlling share of Mitsubishi. Obviously I'm more concerned what's going to happen to us in this mess, but officially, we are an SUV company now. The Mirage, one of the best bad cars ever made, is going away. They've been aggressively sending us our last allocation the same way a cat will shovel everything off your table at it's convenience. I absolutely love Honda, btw, and I'm sorry that they are going to be the next good brand that will be afflicted with the Nissan problems.
Thank you for that insight. As someone who's had to change careers a few times over the years, I think I understand where you're coming from. Just keep swimming, or as I like to say, stay dirty.
If you don’t know a blend door is part of my frontiers heating ,ac . A small part that breaks and costs hundreds to get fixed. My truck only had 48000 miles when this happened. Never owned a vehicle including my 75 mgb with a heater problem. Yes heater cores will clog up but not the mechanical parts not working. Just one issue that won’t let me buy another Nissan.
Don’t forget nissan owns about 21% of Mitsubishi. I think infinity brand will be killed, the Titan truck will remain since Honda doesn’t have a Truck on Frame RWD truck in their lineup. Nissan has some great engines , their transmission, Jatco sux.
so the answer of "That's a difficult one" is code for "we won't be answering that question, and we know way more than we will ever let you know". Just like Chinese saying "That's a good question, we'll get back to you", and that is code for "Yea, not going to answer that for you, EVER so don't ask again". Lots of code words in the Asian business world more than any region I have ever dealt with, and I've dealt with pretty much all the markets.
I own an 03 Infiniti and wouldn't own any Nissan post 2005 - the quality went south far and fast. Renault nailed the coffin shut. Glad to see adult supervision coming to Nissan.
Yeah, Nissan's designs were pretty solid in the late 90s, which is when early 2000s vehicles would have been designed. As Renault got their hands into each redesign lots of things went downhill quickly. The way the deal was structured both companies owned part of the other, but only Renault's shares of Nissan were controlling shares. Nissan's shares of Renault carried no weight.
300k miles from my Titan and 180k from our Armada. Sold both this past spring 2024 in running condition though the pickup needed work. I've always thought of Nissan as a truck/SUV maker that also has sports cars. Never considered their cars other than Maxima
I think the issue is that there are no real enthusiast cars any more. The new Z is cool but way too expensive. The BRZ/FR86 is pretty much the only option. Everyone is going crossover only and I don't want a crossover. I love my Mazda 6, but there is nothing like it anymore.
Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi all grade B vehicles (of course certain models excluded: GTR), can only hurt Honda reliability and water down the Honda brand. I remember the Mercedes-Chrysler merger of 1998, nothing good came out if it.
So then it would be; HRNM (Honda, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi) group or alliance. I don't know. I briefly saw an online news item with Honda and Nissan senior reps. shaking hands at what I believe was a presentation, which makes me wonder how the remainder would fit in; if at all.
would love to have a weekly livestream etcg meet Eric would be a fresh directiona and good for everyone maybe ? pluse would be great for us all to chat with you on live stream
Interesting idea. I'm actually working on something similar. I should know more if that will come to pass in the next few weeks. Thank you for that suggestion.
As much as many would like this merger to result in the end the CVT, I think it will actually increase the models that have them. Cars with CVTs are going to get better MPG, which all car makers need to meet the federal guidelines, so its likely all Hondas will have them soon too. Hopefully, the merger results in better CVTs. I do like that CVTs are fantastically efficient for highway driving at fixed speeds, but I'd like to see a CVT that doesn't feel like there's a rubber band between the engine and the wheels when I need some instant acceleration on the fly.
Why would a dog buy a flea? Nissan used to be good, back in like 2008 till maybe as late as 2010 but they have lost all the reliability they once had. I work at an auto parts store and we use exclusively nissan vehicles for deliveries. They are junk, we have versas foresters, and some kicks. The only one that hasn't been a constant issue is the oldest versa (a 2008)
I’m a Honda loyalist and I’m concerned for sure. I think it will hurt Honda a little bit in the beginning (coming from people who are “Ew Nissan”). But I think once everything settles down, Honda will make Renault and Mitsubishi go away. As for what Nissan’s future holds… not sure on that, I don’t think it looks bright for them.
Some of the Nissan body lines on their sedans and small SUVs look very righteous but, that does not translate into reliability, especially if they are equipped with that notorious Jatco CVT transmission.
I'd say let China take them. Honda needs to remain Honda. I believe (but I could be wrong) that Honda is one of the last major car companies that is standing alone. Yes they have Acura, but that's only here in America and they're really just rebadged Hondas with a higher-end trim package. The only team up that I would like to see Honda do is to start buying their transmissions from Toyota. As a first generation Acura MDX owner I'm still a little miffed about the three transmissions that I went through.
I think this is mostly a financial merger rather than a complete brand merger. They will be streamlining and sharing technologies but may still retain somewhat separate product lines I believe. ICE is on the way out and EV will eventually take over the market. By 2050, most automakers today will likely disappear and the world may end up with only a few auto manufacturers.
We have been a Toyota family for years but our last Corolla has been a disappointment. I have been thinking about checking out Honda for our next car so I hope if this deal happens it does not ruin Honda.
Agreed, Nissan was never the same since they merged with Renault. I hope this new merge will help Nissan and get rid of their cvt transmission, the gdi and internal water pumps. If they play their cards right hopefully will see newer versions of what made Nissan great back in the days.
Unabashed Honda fan here too. I know it looks and sounds weird. But wouldn't that make the Toyota, Subaru Mazda marriage weird too? For me this is just a big whoop... sure there will be some cross-pollination, but not a complete dilution of identities. People love their Hondas, their Nissans, their Mitsubishis. Sure maybe they decide this braking system or that transmission system is best for these cars, but I don't expect to see a VTEC Z Car ... dang,... ok maybe that. Honda please fund a 240SX / Sylvia, Eclipse. Each company has a forte and a strong identity, that's not such a bad thing. Acura and Infiniti both need fresh eyes for revitalization. What scratches my noggin is the fact so many companies are going all in for EVs. Is there a new battery technology that's about to take the world by storm? A new power grid? Hey guys, why not give us realistic hybrids until then, like oh, LEXUS?!? I'm looking directly at you Acura. I'm excited to see what develops
If they could merge but remain their own entities like the European car brands then, it should be alright. They can "help" each other where they lack. Example: Nissan leaf tech for Honda in exchange of honda's parts supply for Nissan
Let me just preface by saying: I do not hate Nissan. As a matter of fact, I had owned a 2001 and (later) a 2002 Nissan Sentra GXE; loved both of them. Those were well-made vehicles. The Renault merger, however, seriously diminished the brand. And I fear for Honda for that reason exactly.
Your B15 Sentra was produced under Renault acquisition. How would nissan affect their quality or image? Nissan just needs to work on their cvts. Nothing wrong with their engines on a whole. if anything, they build better turbo engines.
@@XenomorphLV426 The Sentra of my generation was designed by Nissan before the merger; i.e., before Renault starting cutting corners. Avoid the subsequent gen and thereafter like the plague.
@@youfrancis interesting, because that gen of Sentra (2002-2006, SE-R+ models) had a couple major issues The subsequent generation of Sentra and Altimas was actually superior IF you purchased a manual variant.
I think if honda helped with transmission reliability, Nissan could be back to their A game.
I have a B16 se r spec V. I agree.
Yea I would bet good money they are going to use the reputation of Honda to sell cheaply made built to fail cars with costs cut in every possible way, part costs 2x etc.
"Real happiness lies in the completion of work using your own brains and skills"- Soichiro Honda
Amen to that. Soichiro was a very wise man!
Look, Eric, this can't be any worse that when Nissan was owned by Renault. GREAT VIDEO!
Carlos Ghosn actually ruined the company, he was known in Japan as the hatchet man because he fired so many employees and closed so many factories in japan, he brought engines designed from the French to nissan, and we know how reliable the french are at engines. his push for cutting costs by pushing the jatco cvt transmissions ruined the company. Nissan was such a great company like the 300z , 240 sx and maxima models. its such as shame. Ghosn is on the interpol list of criminals , they should bring him back to get justice for nissan.
I totally agree, Carlos is right out of General Motors central casting. I see him being interviewed from time to time when the automotive industry is being discussed on new shows.
He also embezzled a fortune from Nissan as well.
Between that and his decisions while at the helm of Nissan, especially legacy costs and setting up Nissan to bleed money in the future all were very strong contributors to Nissan’s current state of affairs. He bounced to his home country which happens to be a non-extraditing country.
Ghosn hired some guys to smuggle him out in a Bass case with other musical instruments. Guy is not a nice man.
Don't allow a frog into your house, or country.
@@davidparker9676 he was not French. He was a French citizen but he’s actually from the Middle East.
This is bad because Honda is known for attention to detail and reliability. Now as a combined brand with some of the lowest attention to detail and lowest reliability, it may affect perception of Honda's overall. If Honda were smart, they would immediately scale down Nissan to diminish their negative effect and openly share in one direction to Nissan vs taking anything from them which would be viewed as suspect as reliable and well designed.
Nissan's diesels are reliable as all hell. I can see if Honda borrows Nissan's diesel knowledge and Nissan borrows Honda's CVT knowledge then I could see a bunch of good cars being made.
And the Nissan Altima drivers. If you know you know .
No kidding, I can't wait for cheap plastic that still smells to show up on the dash of my CR-V
Both companies have their pro's and con's. Nissan's problems were due to reliability in their cvt's and maybe some cheap 4 cylinder QR engines for their low-credit/rental fleet people movers. But Nissan makes the best V6's out of Japan's big three. And in terms of manufacturing, Nissan has been bigger in scalability. They make body-on-frame trucks, rwd platforms, and EV's. Honda makes better 4 cylinder, FWD cars and their CVT's been more reliable. But both Nissan and Honda have been behind Toyota in the hybrid game.. and thats really where the future is heading.
I thought this at first too (I was worried that Nissan would take Honda down), but *to be fair* Nissan's larger vehicles are not too bad. Vehicles like Patrol (I think it's called the Armada) in the US even the Nissan Fuga (Q80), Nissan Skyline (Q50), GT-R of course, and so on were and are not too bad.
It was the small cars with the Renault-influence where Nissan had quality issues, but even then Nissan fans seem to say the worst of that is behind them and the new, current models Rogue, Juke and so are much better in terms of quality than those from the mid-2010's. Obviously Honda knows small and mid-size cars, and with Nissan's knowledge of body on frame midsize pickups, 4x4 and rear wheel drive platforms (though the sports sedans are mostly going away) there could be good synergies.
They both don't have enough capital invest in battery EVs by themselves, so teaming up on that for economies of scale is probably the best way to go.
Congrats on your son's achievement! I am sure you are extremely proud! Despite working for/with BMW most of my life, my first car was a Honda (3rd Gen Prelude like the one on the book cover! lol) and I've been a true Honda guy ever since.... hearing this piece of news was definitely out of nowhere to think those two would merge is crazy. Thanks for your content as always 👍👍
In Japanese culture, a straight-out "No" is practically impossible. It would be the equivalent of slapping someone's face. "Muzukashii," (難しい), which I often heard when I lived in Japan, is translated as "Difficult" but, with most Japanese/English translations it seems, exact equivalents are rare. It is often understood as "No." By the way, excellent pronunciation Eric. Toshihiro Mibe = "Toe She He Row Me Bay", but without stress on any syllable, (at least to the usual English speaking person's ears). Happy to see you back on YT!
Thank you!
Thank you indeed!
Years ago Studebaker & Packard merged. Some engineer said, "it's like 2 drunks trying to help each other across the street." Hope that does not apply to this.
Let’s look at a more recent example. Hyundai Kia. They’re doing just fine.
Nissan’s problem can be solved - attractive designs (Honda is decent at this) and more reliable transmissions (Honda’s CVT is great).
Honda can maybe leverage Nissan for electric R&D. Bring that tech and 4x4 Truck tech over to Honda to do more off-road and PHEV.
This is going in my mental Rolodex.
Studebaker and Packard are in the dustbin of history.
@@n9wox Sort of. Did you know that STP was a Studebaker brand? It stands for Studebaker Transportation Products. Last I checked STP is still around today so Studibaker isn't completely gone from history. At least to nerds that know where STP came from.
@@ETCG1whoah! talk about knowledge! thanks for coming back! You help me a lot years ago to do repairs on my truck. Just by watching your videos. So thanks a lot! It’s been almost 14 years since I saw your first video.
Great video thanks Eric. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Nissans from the 80s and 90s were the best with the hardbody pickup, sentra, and pathfinder. If Nissan would build simple vehicles at fair prices like they used to, people would be fighting over them.
Well said (from an owner of a V6 MT Frontier). Simple and reliable works well.
The Soichiro Honda story is, as far as I can tell, a true story of independence and ingenuity.
Yep, he was the MAN in the automotive / motorcycle world! He'd engineer things that a mechanic could NOT screw up in any possible way! Things were intuitive. The total opposite of the way ANYTHING is manufactured today.
In my mind, a true hot rodder and someone who represents what the best of the American ideal can accomplish.
@@ETCG1 AMEN to that. I agree!!
Congratulations on your son's new job as a software engineer, very impressive 👍🏽
Happy New Year to all 🎉🥳!
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Eric!
Happy New Year!
First the removal of the handbrake in favor of the electronic one, now this. Honda is just making some dumb decisions.
Remote emissions is a good way to put it. But it’s important to note that a power plant, even burning fossil fuels, is much easier to control emissions than millions of cars in varying levels of disrepair. From an emissions standpoint, we are ahead in using EV’s. Whether or not that translates through the entire supply chain is another question entirely
Yeah, I think it is bologna too. TIRES pollute more than anything - well aside from Jet engines and manufacturing plants etc... EV's are not the answer. To sustain our electrical infra which includes the rise of Ai, Bitcoin mining, commercial rel-estate, residential, just the TSMC in Phoenix AZ uses power equivalent to 200k homes. So you would need to deploy SMR's - Terra Power, NuScale, OKLO, and Westinghouse - IMO
EVs charged from a coal fired power station are still less emissions than internal combustion engines, but this comparison is unfair towards EVs as coal is one of the dirtiest fuels, a power station run from petrol, diesel or crude would be less emissions and more efficient. 'Remote' emissions ignores the point that the power grid is transitioning to lower emissions generation, as this continues EVs will become closer and closer to zero emissions rather than remote emissions. Yes, there are still emissions associated with manufacturing, batteries, tyres, etc, but these are either the same as internal combustion engines or very quickly offset by efficiency and emmisions gains from EVs.
An electric motor is also several orders of magnitude more efficient converting that energy to motion.
Not sure how that math works out. If you have more electric vehicles, you will need to produce more electricity. More electricity in an ICE burning power plant, means more emissions. I don't believe you can change the laws of physics just because you're charging electric vehicles instead of running a washing machine.
@@ETCG1 Yes, but the less ICEs on the road, in exchange for EVs, will produce less greenhouse gasses, overall. ICE vehicle manufacturing puts out a lot of greenhouse gasses as well. But, if you swap ICEs for EVs, and we reach that tipping point where there could be more EVs than ICEs being produced, then there would definitely be less greenhouse gasses being produced if you add up the greenhouse emissions that are put out by the manufacturing processes, plus the zero emissions that are put out directly by the EVs as they operate on a daily basis. And eventually, as someone else mentioned here, the industry is working towards zero production emissions, or at least near zero. We have to give ideas and technology a chance to catch up.
I love that your first tinker project was a 240z. Mine was a 280z. Got to learn how to troubleshoot EFI the hard way.
Wasn't a tinker project, it was my first customer car that i worked on as a professional mechanic at my first job as a mechanic.
@@ETCG1 Oh wow. That would arguably make it an even more unique first experience then. :)
(glances around)
Happy New Year, Eric! Honda could adopt the full-size pickup line from Nissan and develop a Honda powerplant and transmission. Maybe a J35 (after the camshaft bearing issues get corrected) with an electric motor to meet the "hybrid" movement?
Maybe it can also influence Honda to create a V8 powered full size truck that can compete with the Ford F150.
@@CJColvin, I thought about that, but it would be against the electric trend all car manufacturers are following. Yes, I agree and would like a Honda V8 power plant.
@javierdelpino1497 Right, luckily Trump is rolling back the EPA emissions so hopefully they'll make one for the future.
When I worked at Nissan in 2015 we moved mostly lease cars or financed nicely equipped trucks like Frontier or SUVs.
We had a truck and commercial vehicle program but it wasn't properly promoted. Also we got a new Titan and it got ZERO promotion. My work truck was a Titan. Most reliable work truck ever even at 300k miles
Good info. I agree w/much of what you posted.
Love that thumbnail lol!
Thanks for this Eric the best to you and your family family 😊
You should consider doing a podcast for this stuff. That way we can listen in our cars and stuff
Funny you should mention that. Stay tuned.
I'm going to be a first time dad and my first Daughters Birthday in a few more hours. Thanks for always helping ETCG1. Been watching you for about a decade now. Thanks for wishing us all a happy birthday. Now my daughter is going to be a part of this. 🎉
@ noapologie... are you saying that ETCG helped you procreate?
That's weird.. Also shouldn't take a decade.
More seriously..good luck. The only parental advice I thought was right on was that it goes fast!
Be there! More important than anything, I think.
Congratulations on becoming a father !!
@javiercedillo7404 just born 6:55 pm
10 pounds 10 ounces
Happy Birthday!
Exactly my thoughts ETCG!
I like Honda, not because of the cars, but Honda CBX motorcycles. I owned 5 of them, one of each model year, plus one. I’ve never owned a Japanese car, I’m a Ford & GM guy.
i like the "remote emissions" moniker but i would add that emissions can be better controlled at central locations versus individual vehicles
And better at a big plant outside of town with exhaust pointed at the sky than a million tailpipes blowing in children's faces.
And not to mention the legitimate efficiency gains by producing all that energy at a single source comparative to the inifficiency of ICEs in cars.
Nothing is truly ZERO emissions. Us breathing is an emission. Centralizing, controlling them and increasing efficiency is the key poing of gain with this particular method.
Is it perfect? Oh hell nah, of course not. But it seems a reasomable solution if implemented responsibly. Which so far i find lacking.
I can agree to that. But let's also include the mining and other environmental 'cost' associated with the production of the EV. We can't just ignore that lithium mining is not good for the environment.
In fact, I think that's the exact same thinking that got us here to begin with. If we are so focused on the result that we ignore the cost of getting there, can we really call it progress? How does EV improve the environment? I mean, really? Big picture, cradle to grave, is EV actually better for the environment?
"Love cars, love people, love life."
-Yutaka Katayama (RIP), Father of the Datsun "Fairlady" Z and Datsun brand in America.
Would love to see a video with your take on all the cars coming out of China currently
I guess Eric doesn't see too many of those as they don't come to the US. Chinese cars are very common in Australia, even though we only get about 5-6 brands (there are like 50+ domestic auto brands in China!).
Great video man. I’d like your take with ODB3.
The prologue although based on GM's Aultimu platform. Has been a sales success for Honda
If this happens, I hope Honda would borrow a RWD platform from Infiniti to make a RWD sedan or coupe in the Honda and/or Acura lineup
I don't see that since Honda spent so much time and R&D for their AWD platforms.
Eric you just told me about Honda and Nissan I never knew what thank you for letting me know watching from South Africa
Its going to bring Honda down
I really hope not, but I'm afraid you might be right. Anyone thinking of buying a Honda should do it soon.
It will likely create issues for Honda but long term they will come out ok. I would expect the Japanese government will nudge things in their favor to make this work
Honda will benefit from Nissan's expertise on building turbo engines that don't dilute fuel and engine oil, or overheat at the track. Nissan engines are very solid.
Nissan could benefit from CVT reliability assistance.
Nissan is like the Chrysler of Japan.
@@snorman1911 That's actually a great analogy.
Ultimately it could be interesting to see their combined take on enthusiast vehicles, but what will more than likely be the result (as we’ve seen MANY times before) when sectors consolidate you see less competition, when there’s less competition prices go up
Or like Boeing when they absorbed McDonnel Douglas.
We'll see the results in 2-3 years if Honda kept an engineering focus or allowed the MBA's to rise to C-Suite.
@@boots7859 To be fair, with Nissan the bean-counting was from Renault. Nissan themselves pushed their variable compression engine to market (it's been across much of the range for 5 years now), so in some ways Nissan are quite engineering led.
I will always like ETCG videos.
Thank you!
Happy New Year to you, Eric and everyone else!!!
The Honda Prologue is a failure? I have not heard anything about it other than it's coming out.
It’s definitely a flop and Honda is essentially leasing them out for free right now. I almost pulled the trigger on one because the offer was too good to pass up.
@rushmatic oh!!! Why? is it a flop?
Honda has already ended their partnership with GM. The car has gotten good reviews so far but its going to be a single generation car and then ended once they build their own electric.
I read in Forbes magazine in the 90s era ,they do not forgive or forget. Does not matter ,there will always be that separation between countries.
They abandoned the project, so technically, it wasn't a failure since it never went to market. Thanks for the comment.
I think that if they made this a real honest to god merger, they both could come out supreme. combine honda's reliable CVTs and nissan's reliable diesels and you have one unit of a reliable car bracket. I'm gonna be hopeful and hope that they actually combine their knowledge if they get merged.
Now that's what I like to hear!
Interesting take.
Problem is Japan is a consensus style people, gov't, etc.
Unless Honda is top dog and willing to push the higher standards across new Mgmt/structure, expect to see the Boeingization of Honda as Nissan/Mitsubishi bring them down.
In the beginning Nissan built Great cars. The problem they had was they didn't know how much the cars they were building cost and they were selling them way below that price which is a guaranteed way to go out of business. Well they sold the company to Renault and Peugeot Who started using cheap parts which in turn caused a lot of problems and damaged the reputation of Nissan. It was using these cheap parts that made the Japanese government look at the CEO that Peugeot Sent to run Nissan company. Japan is all about prestige and they hold companies responsible for reputation.
Would that merger be good? Time will tell.
I recently inherited a 2007 Civic si.
I’ve never owned a Japanese car. It seems to be well designed and assembled. Pretty impressive quality.
Parts are pretty expensive!
Probably going to get more with the coming tariffs.
Nissans need to get rid of CVTs if they haven’t already.
100%. I really do think that was the start of Nissan's downfall ❤
OMG! Please get rid of their CVT's!
@@NWPencrawler They need to use Honda's CVT's. They had them since the 80's!
They already are but to be honest honda’s current cvt’s are worse then nissans curren cvt’s.
They put a regular automatic in the new Murano. Unfortunately the shift logic on it appears to be absolutely craptastic based on the reviews...
I'm no fanboy but I always liked Nissans, they have a much cooler DNA than Toyota for sure and took far more risk than Honda which follows a very modular (boring) design approach. Nissan made the Z series, Skyline series, RWD platforms, trucks, sports cars, competitive luxury cars. They had a bunch of different designs that were ahead of the industry 30-40 years ago (inline 6s, turbocharged 4s, twin turbocharging, chain driven valvetrain, world's best DOHC V6s, DOHC V8s and V12s, 4 wheel steering, fully electronic AWD). Like Mazda, they were are an engineering powerhouse with a fraction of the resources of Honda and Toyota, people shouldn't forget that.
Right on! I hate that Nisssan gets so much hate. They've made some of the best stuff out there. Even their "junk" isn't quite as bad as some make it out to be. And I'll still say, for the most part, Nissan always made a better truck than Toyota.
Bingo. CVT is the only bad part and if you keep up with fluid changes they hold up ok
@@whois3581 " I hate that Nisssan gets so much hate." The way products went downhill after 2000 (thanks Renault?) is why, I guess. The Nissan Sentra from the 90's was a pretty nice car... The Nissan Tiida (Versa in the USA) from the 2000's however? Not so much. Pretty much everything about it is worse than the Sentra that came before.
You could see the Renault Megane styling influence, the interior was a lot cheaper, the exterior was ugly. The Versa didn't have many upsides apart from a low price and being somewhat reliable with a manual transmission!
@@TassieLorenzo As the Sentra grew, the Versa was the small baby replacement, just like the Fit/Jazz to Civic, or the Echo/Yaris to Corolla. The Versa was pretty ugly, but not that much worse than other equivalents in that range. And I still see plenty of them, and other models, still running around more so than equivalent Hyandai/Kia/Chevy/Ford or many other makes of those years. They weren't completely horrible, and still better than plenty of others, but people act like they're the absolute worse of the worse. Nissan still had really good trucks, some great sport cars, and overall plenty of good styling on a lot of their models. Plenty of ugly ones, but every brand has had their fair share of ugly ones. Even Toyotas interior is known to not be all that great. Nissan just gets a bit extra hate, a little more than they should. There's some others reasons for it too. They marketed to and approved lower income buyers as a cheaper alternative, along with fleet vehicle market, and a lot of those people don't take care of their stuff like someone willing to pay a bit more for a Honda/Toyota. Although Nissan's CVT are pretty bad, I've still seen plenty for sale with 250k miles and still running. Most likely someone that took basic care of their car and changed fluid regularly.
Maybe I'm getting old. But in my mind, Nissan haven't made any cool cars since the 90s. Toyota might be boring, but again because of the olds, I would take the boring reliable Toyota. Nissan will poison Honda, plain and simple.
I am excited of them putting there engineering brains together and making something spectacular also consulting veteran mechanics and technicians so future repairs don’t clash with stuff being in the way of said repair
Why doesn’t the Japanese govt tell Nissan, “Build better cars and people buy from you”? Making junk and financial scandals are a stain (baggage) Honda doesn’t need.
Great video. So many unknown unknowns. Many years ago marriages were arranged like this one seems to be.
RIP Mr. Suzuki
As long as hondas quality does not go down i dont have an opinion
It’s like strapping yourself to the titanic.
The one positive I see is that Nissan could bring a legit 4WD drivetrain to Honda. Ridgeline and CRVs with legit 4WD, lifted a bit, would be nice rigs. An EV version of the Fit would be a winner too. The recent success of Chinese auto companies (think BYD) is going to drive mergers and some brands going out of business.
They don’t need it, most people who drive those don’t even need them. Adding the complexity of a hi-lo range transfer case would require the vehicle to be revamped. The Ridgeline is perfectly capable for doing light to moderate offloading. I really don’t understand why there’s so many trucks and big SUVs sold here in America because I never see those things doing any work near their capacity. Plus, I’m not sure I want to spend $50,000 or $100,000 as I have seen some of these vehicles dressed up to take it off road and possibly damage.
There really should be a surcharge on SUVs and trucks if it comes with anything other than crank windows and a rubber mat. Put a 40% luxury tax on those and people will change their minds real quick over owning one of those behemoth just for a status symbol or to be able to sit up high.
Happy new year y’all!
Have a happy and safe new year, Eric!
Happy New Year!
I hope they bring Mitsubishi in, they are a hidden gem (or should I say hidden CrystalMover). All 3 have things to bring to the table.
Honda: reliable in-house transmissions for bigger FWD vehicles, Atkinson engines for hybrids (and low-HP vehicles), reliable CVTs
Nissan: Body-on-frame platforms, batteries for BEVs (Ariya) and hybrids, Zero Gravity Seats
Mitsubishi: PHEV systems (especially electrical parts like motors and inverters), E-AWD for CUVs, S-AWC
Ghosn fired so many good engineers that when Honda rocks up to the Nissan engineering HG, three raccoons in a lab coat will run skittering away across the parking lot.
With change comes growing pains. I just don’t want to buy a growing pain. Thanks for the content.
Great comment.
Owned both. Still own my Suzuki equator which is a rebadged Nissan frontier. Love it. Daughter has an a Acura & loves it. And look at it this way, Honda will have a real truck now.
It's important to note that Nissan and Renault did not merge, they both now own a 15% share in each other so it is an strategic partnership. Many car companies have partnerships with or without equity shares where they share technology, co-develop engines, transmissions, or sister models. Partnerships are limited can can be reduced or cancelled without problems, whereas undoing a merger is only really done if it has gone really sour and you want to cut your losses (ie Mercedes in the DaimlerChrysler "merger").
Yo, managements everywhere… QUALITY
wait what!? Since Renault bought/merged with nissan, even their best vehicles have been poorly made.
...Let alone Mitsubishi.
It seems many people have forgotten about Nissan’s many automotive innovations and success: SR20DE engines going back to 1990 were arguably 10 years ahead of Honda Acura economy offerings at the time, skylines held the Nuremberg ring records for production vehicles for years, nissan pioneered viscous limited slip differentials were bullet proof and gave front drive vehicles awd performance (10 years before others started using viscous limited clutches in their awd systems), the Nissan leaf was truly the first mass produced EV and beat Tesla sales until about 2018, the skyline GTR continues to be an amazing supercar with many wins behind its name, although a failure Nissan beat Toyota to the punch with not only a full-size truck but with a Cummins diesel offering.
Right on. Nissan has an engineering history to be proud of.
Eric, check out what happened to Yamaha a year ago (SEP 2023). It started a joined venture with CFMOTO from China but I'm sure Yamaha will be pushed out of the market one day. CFMOTO now makes 'Yamaha quality' bikes at 30~35% lower prices (for Mexico at least).
So yes, Nissan does not want this to happen with them as well.
For many years Honda and Nissan were rivals on the race track. This breeds a loyalty to your own. Now they got to forget that and be friends.
Love this History/ Knowledge! Hopefully Honda makes Nissan Company excellent... They should make a Nissan 370 Z/R with VTec 😎
Happy New Year Eric, and all!
Happy New Year!
I would like to see a Nissan dirt bike after all this. Also didn’t know about VAG, that’s a little sketch! Could you make a video on that too?
I always wished Nissan would've made bikes back in the day, and that Honda would've made small pickups. Some 90s era Nissan dirt bikes in the back of a small Honda pickup would've been awesome.
I hope I get to see 1 day a nissan 450z with 4.5l v8 😁👍🏼, or nissans with reliable transmissions, and floor pans that last more than 5 years without rust 🙏
I’ve hated Nissan products ever since the Renault merge. I’ve hated Hondas ever since their “earth dream” engines came out. Give me another civic HF with 50 mpg!
Civic HF is something ive been actively keeping an eye out for a decent example for a while now. Theyre so neat.
Or a CRX HF.
I wonder if a secondary thought for Honda is looking to leverage some of Nissan’s truck experience to compete with Toyota. Nissan Frontier, although not on the frontier of design, is a solid architecture to start from. And the Titan, although the 2nd generation never really took off, was also a solid build and a great head start in designing a competitor for Tacoma/Tundra.
Thanks for the cake :o)❤
What about Nissan cvt's when you talk about Nissan reliability?
I own an old 2015 Leaf, love that car for running around town. Walmart, the super market, doctors, hospitals, etc. are all within 20 miles from my house, most less then 10. Then I just charge it in my garage. My sister has a newish (like 5 years old) Rogue, it's a great car. The company needs leadership but they still make great cars as far as I can tell. I do not like mergers, it just makes for less competition.
Thank you for that insight.
The problem with Nissan at this point in time is they know how important it is to have flagship vehicles. They have the GT-R, PATROL/SAFARI and the Z, but their regular vehicles don't share enough technology, style or reliability with those to sell or even be any good compared to competitors.
The article I read talked about Subaru Toyota and Mitsubishi? And maybe Isuzu? Already being aligned and having a jump on EV's already. Since Nissan had an early jump, they thought Honda could take advantage of that. You are spot on. As much as Chinese people love sushi, historically they do hate the Japanese because of all the war atrocities during WW II. That being said, the last couple of generations have either softened their stance or just let it go completely. As of right now Taiwan, South Korea Japan and the majority of the Asia Pacific region have become aligned because of Mainland China and their penchant for threatening violence and ongoing trade embargos, with the Aussies, etc... But yes, it may be that blocking Foxconn out is one of the reasons. Especially with China constantly threatening to take Taiwan back by force. When Hong Kong reverted back to China, many thought it wouldn't change much since it is one of the global financial centers. The Chinese government was more concerned with making it an example of crushing dissent and making everyone fall into line with Beijing, so the added fear of China taking over Foxconn/Nissan is certainly real.
I am excited about this as I have a new Nissan vehicle. I think that if Honda can supply new Transmissions to Nissan - Their going to do well. I think Honda could use a lower tier Nissan model in their lineup. Also, The Frontier is a body on Frame option to the Honda truck market. Honda can shrink the Ridgeline to compete with the Ford Maverick. And the Nissan can be Honda's truck focus. Plus, I'm happy because my Extended warranty will be secure, and I won't have to worry about Nissan going out of business.
Honda has a lot of transmission problems and oil consumption ...
As a Mitsubishi master tech since 2010, I'll say we sell the best version of a Rouge you can buy as the 22+ Outlander, but my god they have unbelievably stupid and expensive problems that MMC/MMNA products could never dream of suffering from. The MMC/Nissan/Renault 'Alliance Platform' seems to be falling apart, as Nissan has divested from owning controlling share of Mitsubishi. Obviously I'm more concerned what's going to happen to us in this mess, but officially, we are an SUV company now. The Mirage, one of the best bad cars ever made, is going away. They've been aggressively sending us our last allocation the same way a cat will shovel everything off your table at it's convenience.
I absolutely love Honda, btw, and I'm sorry that they are going to be the next good brand that will be afflicted with the Nissan problems.
Thank you for that insight. As someone who's had to change careers a few times over the years, I think I understand where you're coming from. Just keep swimming, or as I like to say, stay dirty.
Did you get any stray manual transmission units in? I'd be interested in one of them. The Mirage is an honest economy car.
If you don’t know a blend door is part of my frontiers heating ,ac . A small part that breaks and costs hundreds to get fixed. My truck only had 48000 miles when this happened. Never owned a vehicle including my 75 mgb with a heater problem. Yes heater cores will clog up but not the mechanical parts not working. Just one issue that won’t let me buy another Nissan.
Perhaps Honda will rebadge the titan
I was thinking this too. Could they restart production of the Titan? I think so!
92 Nissan Sentra SE-R was what I learned to drive stickshift at age 15. Cars just aren’t built the same.
Don’t forget nissan owns about 21% of Mitsubishi.
I think infinity brand will be killed, the Titan truck will remain since Honda doesn’t have a Truck on Frame RWD truck in their lineup. Nissan has some great engines , their transmission, Jatco sux.
The Titan has already been shelved. Production stopped this last summer.
The Titan has already been killed off. Honda could utilize the Frontier chassis as a ridgeline replacement... But I don't see that happening.
Eric you could be right, who knows. I don't see any benefit for Honda. Having said that Honda has there own challenges...
I think someone's trying to boost Nissan stock or lower Honda's stock price. One or the other!
so the answer of "That's a difficult one" is code for "we won't be answering that question, and we know way more than we will ever let you know". Just like Chinese saying "That's a good question, we'll get back to you", and that is code for "Yea, not going to answer that for you, EVER so don't ask again". Lots of code words in the Asian business world more than any region I have ever dealt with, and I've dealt with pretty much all the markets.
I own an 03 Infiniti and wouldn't own any Nissan post 2005 - the quality went south far and fast. Renault nailed the coffin shut. Glad to see adult supervision coming to Nissan.
Yeah, Nissan's designs were pretty solid in the late 90s, which is when early 2000s vehicles would have been designed. As Renault got their hands into each redesign lots of things went downhill quickly. The way the deal was structured both companies owned part of the other, but only Renault's shares of Nissan were controlling shares. Nissan's shares of Renault carried no weight.
300k miles from my Titan and 180k from our Armada. Sold both this past spring 2024 in running condition though the pickup needed work. I've always thought of Nissan as a truck/SUV maker that also has sports cars. Never considered their cars other than Maxima
I think the issue is that there are no real enthusiast cars any more. The new Z is cool but way too expensive. The BRZ/FR86 is pretty much the only option. Everyone is going crossover only and I don't want a crossover. I love my Mazda 6, but there is nothing like it anymore.
Always been a fan of Honda. Maybe now they’ll make a full-size pickup???
Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi all grade B vehicles (of course certain models excluded: GTR), can only hurt Honda reliability and water down the Honda brand. I remember the Mercedes-Chrysler merger of 1998, nothing good came out if it.
So then it would be; HRNM (Honda, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi) group or alliance. I don't know.
I briefly saw an online news item with Honda and Nissan senior reps. shaking hands at what I believe was a presentation, which makes me wonder how the remainder would fit in; if at all.
would love to have a weekly livestream etcg meet Eric would be a fresh directiona and good for everyone maybe ? pluse would be great for us all to chat with you on live stream
Interesting idea. I'm actually working on something similar. I should know more if that will come to pass in the next few weeks. Thank you for that suggestion.
As much as many would like this merger to result in the end the CVT, I think it will actually increase the models that have them. Cars with CVTs are going to get better MPG, which all car makers need to meet the federal guidelines, so its likely all Hondas will have them soon too. Hopefully, the merger results in better CVTs. I do like that CVTs are fantastically efficient for highway driving at fixed speeds, but I'd like to see a CVT that doesn't feel like there's a rubber band between the engine and the wheels when I need some instant acceleration on the fly.
Why would a dog buy a flea? Nissan used to be good, back in like 2008 till maybe as late as 2010 but they have lost all the reliability they once had. I work at an auto parts store and we use exclusively nissan vehicles for deliveries. They are junk, we have versas foresters, and some kicks. The only one that hasn't been a constant issue is the oldest versa (a 2008)
I’m a Honda loyalist and I’m concerned for sure. I think it will hurt Honda a little bit in the beginning (coming from people who are “Ew Nissan”). But I think once everything settles down, Honda will make Renault and Mitsubishi go away. As for what Nissan’s future holds… not sure on that, I don’t think it looks bright for them.
Some of the Nissan body lines on their sedans and small SUVs look very righteous but, that does not translate into reliability, especially if they are equipped with that notorious Jatco CVT transmission.
The CVT isn’t as unreliable as it once was. They’ve been improving in the past few years.
I'd say let China take them. Honda needs to remain Honda. I believe (but I could be wrong) that Honda is one of the last major car companies that is standing alone. Yes they have Acura, but that's only here in America and they're really just rebadged Hondas with a higher-end trim package. The only team up that I would like to see Honda do is to start buying their transmissions from Toyota. As a first generation Acura MDX owner I'm still a little miffed about the three transmissions that I went through.
Nissan and Infiniti were better in the early 90s and before
I think this is mostly a financial merger rather than a complete brand merger. They will be streamlining and sharing technologies but may still retain somewhat separate product lines I believe. ICE is on the way out and EV will eventually take over the market. By 2050, most automakers today will likely disappear and the world may end up with only a few auto manufacturers.
We have been a Toyota family for years but our last Corolla has been a disappointment. I have been thinking about checking out Honda for our next car so I hope if this deal happens it does not ruin Honda.
My mother-in-law has a new Civic, she loves it. If you're looking to replace the Corolla, I recommend checking one out.
I like “Remote emissions” im gonna use that
It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. DW
We say NO! it would definitely make Honda look cheap and we will leave Honda if it does!
Odd, but in Japanese, "Ni- San" means 2-3!
Agreed, Nissan was never the same since they merged with Renault. I hope this new merge will help Nissan and get rid of their cvt transmission, the gdi and internal water pumps. If they play their cards right hopefully will see newer versions of what made Nissan great back in the days.
Unabashed Honda fan here too. I know it looks and sounds weird. But wouldn't that make the Toyota, Subaru Mazda marriage weird too? For me this is just a big whoop... sure there will be some cross-pollination, but not a complete dilution of identities. People love their Hondas, their Nissans, their Mitsubishis. Sure maybe they decide this braking system or that transmission system is best for these cars, but I don't expect to see a VTEC Z Car ... dang,... ok maybe that. Honda please fund a 240SX / Sylvia, Eclipse. Each company has a forte and a strong identity, that's not such a bad thing. Acura and Infiniti both need fresh eyes for revitalization. What scratches my noggin is the fact so many companies are going all in for EVs. Is there a new battery technology that's about to take the world by storm? A new power grid? Hey guys, why not give us realistic hybrids until then, like oh, LEXUS?!? I'm looking directly at you Acura. I'm excited to see what develops
If they could merge but remain their own entities like the European car brands then, it should be alright. They can "help" each other where they lack. Example: Nissan leaf tech for Honda in exchange of honda's parts supply for Nissan