Japanese business leaders are reportedly urging Tesla CEO Elon Musk to intervene as a strategic investor at Nissan after a merger talks with the company, where rival Honda fell last week.
Former Tesla board member Hiro Mizuno and former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are leading Tesla's efforts to acquire Nissan plants in the US. Reported by the Financial Times.
However, the Tesla boss shot down the prospect of buying Nissan's US-based plant.
“The Tesla Factory is a product,” Mask wrote on X. Financial Times Report Support Details of possible investments.
“The CyberCub production line is unparalleled in the automotive industry,” Musk adds, referring to Tesla's upcoming steering-free Robotakshi.
Still, Nissan stock rose almost 5% on Friday.
With increasing pressure to increase domestic production in response to President Donald Trump's tariff threat, high-level Japanese groups see an opportunity for Tesla to expand its footprint while strengthening Nissan's financial position I hope that I can.
Nissan operates assembly plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, combining annual capacity of approximately 1 million vehicles.
However, production at these facilities fell to just 525,000 units in 2024. As part of a broader restructuring plan, Nissan recently announced job cuts and a 20% reduction in global manufacturing capacity.
Worse, the Moody's downgrade rated Nissan's credit rating to junk status on Friday.
In 2006, Nissan's stock peaked at over $27 per share. As of Friday, the shares were trading at just under $6 per share. This is a 77% decrease.
The push to bring Tesla to Nissan follows the breakdown of Honda's $58 billion merger proposal. This is a deal that began moving after Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn expressed interest in acquiring stakes in Nissan through Renault, a longtime partner in Japanese automakers.
With merger talks currently off the table, speculation is growing about Nissan's vulnerability to foreign acquisitions, particularly by Foxconn, activist investors, or private companies seeking to capitalize on the company's struggles.
Honda has shown that it will be willing to resume merger talks with Nissan, on the condition that the company abandons its CEO Uchida. The FT was reported earlier this week.
On Friday, Nikkei's newspaper reported that Taiwan's Foxconn proposed to form a partnership with Honda with the ultimate goal of creating a four-way framework that includes Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
