Honda and Nissan are in talks to deepen ties, two people said yesterday, including a possible merger, the clearest sign yet of how Japan’s once seemingly unbeatable auto industry is being reshaped by challenges from Tesla and Chinese rivals. A combined Honda and Nissan would create a $54bn company with annual output of 7.4mn vehicles, making it the world’s third-largest auto group by vehicle sales after Toyota and Volkswagen. The two firms already forged a strategic partnership in March to cooperate in electric vehicle development, but Nissan’s deepening financial and strategic trouble in recent months has added more urgency for closer cooperation with larger rival Honda. Nissan announced a $2.6bn cost savings plan last month that includes cutting 9,000 jobs and 20% of its global production capacity, as slumping sales in China and the US led to an 85% plunge in second-quarter profit. “This deal appears to be more about bailing out Nissan, but Honda itself is not resting on its laurels,” said Sanshiro Fukao, executive fellow at Itochu Research Institute. “Honda’s cash flow is set to deteriorate next year and its EVs haven’t been going so well.” Shares of Nissan closed nearly 24% higher in Tokyo trade on Wednesday, while shares of Honda, whose market value of $43bn is more than four times bigger than that of Nissan, declined 3%. Shares of Mitsubishi Motors, in which Nissan is the top shareholder with a 24% stake, gained nearly 20%. The automakers have been grappling with challenges from EV makers, particularly in China, where BYD and others have surged ahead. The talks between Honda and Nissan, first reported by the Nikkei newspaper, could allow the companies to cooperate more on technology and help them create a more formidable domestic rival to Toyota. The discussions are focused on finding ways to bolster collaboration and include the possibility of setting up a holding company, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information has not been made public. The companies are also discussing the possibility of a full merger, according to one of the people, as well as looking at ways to cooperate with Mitsubishi. Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi said no deal had been announced by any of the companies, though Nissan and Mitsubishi noted the three automakers had said previously they were considering opportunities for future collaboration. French automaker Renault, a major Nissan shareholder, said it had no information and declined to comment. Renault shares jumped 6.5%. The three Japanese automakers are expected to hold a joint news conference in Tokyo on Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter. Taiwan’s Foxconn, which manufactures Apple’s iPhones and has been seeking to expand its nascent EV contract manufacturing business, approached Nissan about a bid but it was rejected by the Japanese firm, two separate sources familiar with the matter said. Bloomberg News reported earlier on Wednesday that Foxconn had approached Nissan to take a controlling stake. Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a Nissan spokesperson declined to comment on Foxconn. Over the past year, an EV price war launched by Tesla and BYD has intensified pressure on any automakers losing money on the next-generation vehicles. That has put pushed companies like Honda and Nissan to seek ways to cut costs and speed vehicle development, and mergers are a major step in that direction. “In the mid- to long-term, this is good for the Japanese car industry as it creates a second axis against Toyota,” said Seiji Sugiura, a senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory. “Constructive rivalry with Toyota is a positive for the rather stagnating Japanese car industry when it must compete with Chinese automakers, Tesla and others.” Any merger would face significant US scrutiny and President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to take a hard line on imported vehicles, including threatening 25% tariffs on vehicles shipped from Canada and Mexico. Related Story Ministry of Social Development and Family celebrates Qatar National Day Signing of Book of Loyalty and Devotion at KataraCLARK: Favorites of 2024 - Dune Part 2CHEMISTRY NAMED A 2024 ADWEEK FASTEST GROWING AGENCY AND A 2025 CHIEF MARKETER AGENCY OF THE YEAR
PRESS RELEASE: Equity, BpiFrance partner to boost SME trade financing in East AfricaNoneMARTIN, Tenn. (AP) — Tarence Guinyard scored 31 points as UT Martin beat Champion Christian 123-56 on Sunday night. Guinyard added eight rebounds and five assists for the Skyhawks (4-7). Josue Grullon scored 23 points while shooting 8 for 16, including 7 for 13 from beyond the arc and added eight rebounds. Matija Zuzic shot 6 for 14, including 5 for 12 from beyond the arc to finish with 17 points. The Tigers were led in scoring by Noah Brooks, who finished with 14 points and two blocks. Champion Christian, a member of the Association of Christian College Athletics, also got 11 points from Adrian Brown. KJ Younge finished with nine points and three steals. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .The Senate passed a defense bill Wednesday that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members and boost overall military spending to $895 billion while stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children of military members. The annual defense authorization bill usually gains strong bipartisan support and has not failed to pass Congress in nearly six decades, but the Pentagon policy measure in recent years has become a battleground for cultural issues. Republicans this year sought to tack on priorities for social conservatives to the legislation, contributing to a months-long negotiation over the bill and a falloff in support from Democrats. Still, all but a handful of Senate Democrats — as well as nearly all Republicans — voted for the bill's final passage, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden. The bill "isn't perfect, but it still includes some very good things that Democrats fought for,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a floor speech. “It has strong provisions to stand up against the Chinese Communist Party here on a national security basis.” In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill last week after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding the provision to ban the military health system from providing transgender medical care for children. The legislation easily passed by a vote of 281-140. Senate Republican leaders argued that its 1% increase for defense spending was not enough, especially at a time of global unrest and challenges to American dominance. Senate Republicans had argued for a generational boost to defense spending this year, but are planning another push for more defense funding once they control the White House and Congress next year. The annual defense authorization bill directs key Pentagon policy, but it would still need to be backed up with an appropriations package. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a floor speech this week that without the topline increase “major bill provisions like a pay raise for enlisted servicemembers will come at the expense of investments in the critical weapons systems and munitions that deter conflict and keep them safe.” The legislation provides for a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others. Lawmakers said those were key to improving the quality of life of service members at a time when many military families rely on food banks and other government assistance programs to make ends meet. “It includes major quality of life improvements, enhancing things like childcare, housing, medical services, employment support for military spouses and much more,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. The legislation also directs resources towards a more confrontational approach to China, including establishing a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in much the same way that the U.S. has backed Ukraine. It also invests in new military technologies, including artificial intelligence, and bolsters the U.S. production of ammunition. The U.S. has also moved in recent years to ban the military from purchasing Chinese products, and the defense bill extended that with prohibitions on Chinese goods from garlic in military commissaries to drone technology. The Chinese foreign ministry responded to that move last week by calling the bans laughable. “I don’t think it could ever occur to garlic that it would pose a ‘major threat’ to the U.S.,” said Mao Ning, a ministry spokeswoman. “From drones to cranes, from refrigerators to garlic, more and more Chinese-made products have been accused by the US of ‘posing national security risks’. But has the US shown any reliable evidence or rationale to back up those accusations?” But in Congress, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been mostly united in their stance that China is a rising threat. Instead, it was culture war issues that divided lawmakers on the bill, which took months to negotiate. The Republican-controlled House had passed a version of the bill in June that would have banned the Defense Department's policy of reimbursing costs for service members who travel to another state for an abortion, ended gender affirming care for transgender troops and weeded out diversity initiatives in the military. Most of those provisions did not make it into the final package, though Republicans are expecting Donald Trump to make sweeping changes to Pentagon policy when he enters office in January. The bill also still prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in “sterilization.” For some Democrats, the ban on treatments for transgender children — care they said could be life-saving — was a red line. In a floor speech, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said she has always voted for the NDAA, but would not do so this year. She said that the policy change for transgender children would affect between 6,000 and 7,000 families, according to estimates her office has received. “The NDAA has embodied the idea that there is more that brings us together than separates us, that our service members and national defense are not to be politicized. That we put our country over a party when the chips are on the table," she said. “Unfortunately, this year that was ignored — all to gut the rights of our service members to get the health care they need for their children.” Associated Press writer Didi Tang contributed to this report.
Toggle3D.AI Announces Board Member ChangesA series of recent alleged politically motivated violent acts surrounding candidates and their supporters have raised concerns about the potential for conflict that would mar the simultaneous regional elections ahead of the voting day on Wednesday. With little time left before the cooling-off period starts on Sunday, observers are calling on candidates and election organizers to push for peaceful elections to prevent politically fueled clashes that could cause even further democratic backsliding. The recent violent acts were observed in multiple election debates held by the regional offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU), with more than a dozen of the events ending up in fist fights or brawls that resulted in injuries. On Tuesday, the final election debate for Aceh gubernatorial candidates was cut short after supporters of candidate Muzakir Manaf, who was nominated by the local Aceh Party, stormed the stage while his rival Bustami Hamzah addressed the audience. The brawl took place two months after two unidentified individuals threw a grenade into Bustami’s private residence in the Syiah Kuala district of provincial capital Banda Aceh. The attack damaged a part of the house. On Wednesday, another debate for the Bandung regency election in West Java was halted for an hour after supporters of the two candidate pairs quarreled during a commercial break. The two groups reportedly mocked each other before the fight.None
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 goes gold, will now launch a week earlyKeishon Porter scores 20 to guide North Carolina Central to 77-70 victory over LongwoodAILE DEADLINE ALERT: ROSEN, LEADING INVESTOR COUNSEL, Encourages iLearningEngines, Inc. Investors to Secure Counsel Before Important December 6 Deadline in Securities Class Action – AILE
Fresh off its biggest win of the season, Penn State plays its first true road game Tuesday when it visits Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. Aces will be wild for the Nittany Lions (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) and the Scarlet Knights (5-4, 0-1) as Penn State's Ace Baldwin Jr. will square off against Ace Bailey of Rutgers. Baldwin is the Nittany Lions' leading scorer at 15.1 points per game and dishes out 8.1 assists -- fourth in the nation entering Monday's action. He registered 17 points and six assists Thursday in an 81-70 victory over then-No. 8 Purdue in a game where Penn State led by as many as 27. Freddie Dilione V chipped in 14 points for the Nittany Lions, who had not defeated a Top 10 team since 2019. "A win like that's a statement win," Dilione said. "I just think it's going to put everybody on notice. We're just a walkover team. We're always going be the underdogs, and that's our mentality. We've just got to come in every game and just punch everybody in the mouth." Penn State must be careful not to suffer a letdown against a talented Rutgers squad led by freshmen Dylan Harper (23.1 points per game) and Bailey (17.9). The duo combined for 30 points in the Scarlet Knights' last game -- an 80-66 setback at Ohio State. The defeat was the fourth in the last five games for Rutgers, which plays seven of its next eight in New Jersey. "We've got to get better," Scarlet Knights coach Steve Pikiell said. "We got to get some more consistency out of a lot of things, especially our defense. Can't give up 80 points on the road and expect to win in this league." In last season's meeting with Penn State, it was offense that was Rutgers' biggest issue. The Scarlet Knights shot just 1-of-17 from 3-point range and 34 percent overall in a 61-46 home defeat. "(It's about) finding ways of how to bounce back as a team and staying together," Harper said. "Even though we lose, we're still going to find a way." --Field Level Media
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