Nissan seeks help from Tesla

On February 21 local time, the Financial Times reported that a high-level team composed of former Japanese Prime Minister and former Tesla board members plans to invite Tesla to invest in the troubled Nissan Motor. This team believes that Tesla, as the world's largest pure electric vehicle manufacturer, intends to acquire Nissan's factories in the United States, as this move would help Tesla increase its domestic manufacturing capacity to cope with Trump's tariff policies. It is important to note that the proposal hopes that the investment in Nissan will come from a consortium of multiple investors, with Tesla being the largest supporter, and other members including Foxconn, to prevent Nissan from being swallowed by a single company. This new proposal is led by former Tesla board member Hiro Mizuno and has the support of former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Several board members of Nissan are already aware of this plan. This comes after the failed deal between Nissan and Honda, and the consequences of this merger failure could be particularly severe for Nissan, given its weak financial condition. Nissan must seek other avenues for survival. Following the news, Nissan's stock rose nearly 11%. Nissan: Seeking new partners, hoping for support from the American tech industry Earlier reports from foreign media indicate that as the deal with Honda is about to collapse, Nissan is seeking strategic partners from the tech industry, with some board members considering Tesla and Apple as ideal targets. Tesla's market value reaches $1.1 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. Although Tesla has historically never invested in an automotive company, Musk is adjusting the company's strategy to use its $3.6 billion cash for research and development in autonomous driving and robotics technology However, Tesla also hopes to increase its production capacity in the United States to cope with Trump's tariff policy. Currently, all cars sold by Tesla in the U.S. are assembled domestically, but some components come from Mexico and other regions. Nissan has an annual production capacity of about 1 million vehicles at its two assembly plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, but only produced 525,000 vehicles in 2024. Previously, Nissan announced plans to cut production capacity by 20% in response to declining sales. Last week, Nissan stated that it plans to reduce production shifts at its two U.S. plants