Japanese business leaders are reportedly urging Tesla CEO Elon Musk to step in as a strategic investor in Nissan after the company’s merger talks with rival Honda collapsed last week.
Hiro Mizuno, a former Tesla board member, and ex-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are spearheading the effort for Tesla to acquire Nissan’s plants in the US, the Financial Times reported.
The Tesla boss, however, shot down the prospect of buying up Nissan’s US-based plants.
“The Tesla factory IS the product,” Musk wrote on X in response to the Financial Times report detailing a possible investment.
“The Cybercab production line is like nothing else in the automotive industry,” Musk added, referencing Tesla’s upcoming steering wheel-less robotaxi.
Still, Nissan stock rose nearly 5% Friday.
With mounting pressure to increase domestic production in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, the high-level Japanese group is hoping Tesla could see an opportunity to expand its footprint while simultaneously strengthening Nissan’s financial position.
Nissan operates assembly plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, which have a combined annual capacity of approximately one 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.
To make matters worse,Moody’s downgraded Nissan’s credit rating to junk status on Friday.
In 2006, Nissan’s stock price reached a peak of more than $27 a share. As of Friday, the stock was trading at just under $6 a share — a 77% decline.
The push to bring Tesla into Nissan follows the breakdown of Honda’s $58 billion merger proposal, a deal that had been set in motion after Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn expressed interest in acquiring a stake in Nissan through Renault, the Japanese automaker’s long-standing partner.
With merger talks now off the table, speculation has grown over Nissan’s vulnerability to foreign acquisition, particularly by Foxconn, activist investors, or private equity firms looking to capitalize on the company’s struggles.
Honda has indicated that it would be willing to resume the merger talks with Nissan on condition that the company ditch its chief executive officer, Makoto Uchida, the FT reported earlier this week.
On Friday, a Nikkei newspaper reported said Taiwan’s Foxconn has proposed forming a partnership with Honda with an ultimate aim of creating a four-way framework that would also include Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
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