Japan to court Tesla on Nissan investment: Report
This file photo taken on Feb 10, 2025 shows a man walking past the Nissan logo in the showroom at Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. (Photo: AFP/Philip Fong)
TOKYO: A high-level Japanese group, which includes a former prime minister, has drawn up plans for Tesla to invest in Nissan following the collapse of its merger talks with Honda Motor, the Financial Times reported on Friday (Feb 21).
The group hopes Elon Musk's Tesla will become a strategic investor, believing the company is keen to acquire Nissan's plants in the United States, according to the report.
The proposal is led by former Tesla board member Hiro Mizuno, with support from ex-premier Yoshihide Suga and his former aide Hiroto Izumi, the report said, citing unidentified sources.
"The group is hopeful Tesla will become a strategic investor since they believe (it) is keen to acquire Nissan's plants" in the US, the newspaper said.
Suga's office said it was not aware of a plan to encourage Tesla to invest in Nissan.
Suga, 76, stood down as prime minister in 2021 but remains a member of Japan's lower house, representing a constituency in Nissan's home prefecture of Kanagawa.
Nissan declined to comment on the report, while Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters was not immediately able to contact Izumi and Mizuno.
Nissan shares closed up 9.6 per cent on Friday after the report.
Earlier on Friday, Moody's downgraded the credit rating of Nissan to junk, saying the decision "reflects Nissan's weak profitability driven by slowing demand for its ageing model portfolio".
Nissan announced thousands of job cuts last year after reporting a 93 per cent plunge in first-half net profit, and the firm now expects an annual loss of more than US$500 million.
"Even if the company successfully executes its restructuring plan with cost reductions and new model releases, we do not expect free cash flow to turn positive until fiscal 2026 at the earliest," Moody's said.
It gave Nissan a rating of "Ba1", a category with high credit risk often described as junk.
Honda and Nissan's merger talks apparently unravelled after Honda proposed to make Nissan a subsidiary instead of a plan announced in December to integrate under a new holding company.
The Financial Times said several Nissan board members were aware of the new proposal.
Reports in December said Taiwanese electronics behemoth Foxconn had unsuccessfully approached Nissan to buy a majority stake.
It then reportedly asked Renault to sell its 35 per cent stake in Nissan - a pursuit that was put on hold before the merger talks were announced.
"The proposal envisions a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, but also includes the possibility of a minority investment by Foxconn,"Â the Financial Times said.
