Honda, Nissan decide to end merger talks

Honda Motor and Nissan Motor have decided to terminate merger talks that would have created the world's third-biggest automaker group. The companies say they are instead seeking to prioritize "the speed of decision-making" in a rapidly changing EV market. 

The firms held separate news conferences on Thursday. Mitsubishi also said it will cancel a memorandum of understanding on a possible alliance with Honda and Nissan. But it may still collaborate with them on software development. Nissan initially considered the merger as a way to kick start its struggling business. 

At Thursday's news conference, the company said it expects to post a net loss of 80 billion yen, or around 520 million dollars, for this fiscal year. The company has announced plans to turn around its business by cutting global production capacity by 20 percent and shedding 9,000 jobs.