Since the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas, Toyota President Akio Toyoda has spoken about the future consolidation that will take place in the Japanese auto industry, with the planned merger of Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi in 2026. The man who has been at the helm of the automaker since 2009 was keen to clarify, two weeks after the merger was announced, that Toyota had not been approached and that he was not involved in such discussions. He also added that between Nissan and Toyota, a possible merger would simply not be possible in the current state, while the authorities would block a project that could create a monopoly.
“[Nissan] has not approached Toyota about any merger,” Akio Toyoda said through an interpreter. “But even if they had considered this option, it would have been a violation of anti-monopoly laws. So maybe they could have thought about it, but decided not to because of that," he added. A way to clarify things, but also to belittle Nissan, indicating that a merger with Toyota could have been an idea if the authorities did not block it. To stand up to the competition, without going through a merger, Toyota presented Woven City in Las Vegas, a project for a startup incubator city located near Mount Fuji in Japan. Its bet on the future.
Toyota gets closer to Nvidia
Among its main projects, Toyota is aiming to produce its first solid battery from 2026. On the autonomous car side, the manufacturer took advantage of CES in Las Vegas to announce that it will equip itself with future Nvidia chips and software, through a strategic partnership. According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, during his introductory speech on Monday, January 6, driverless cars will represent "the first trillion-dollar robotics market."
Regarding the merger of Nissan and Honda, the Toyota president acknowledged that the economic context was difficult. "If I knew what was going to happen from now on, I think I would become very rich by making some investments," joked Akio Toyoda. "We see an uncertain future. We don't know what's going to happen. It's a pretty interesting and challenging time for leaders," he added, at a time when Chinese competition is increasingly threatening. However, the merger of his two rivals would be good news, which would make the leader curious.
"For me, it's very exciting. "I'm looking forward to seeing how they cooperate and how they develop more competitive products," Akio Toyoda said. "If interesting and competitive products come out [from this merger], I think it will be good for competition, not only in Japan, but also around the world."
Source: InsideEVs
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