Honda Motor and Nissan Motor are reportedly close to reaching an agreement to jointly develop a shared vehicle operating system and onboard computer platform for future models.
According to Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, the companies could finalize the deal as soon as Monday, with the jointly developed technology potentially appearing in new vehicles from 2029.
Honda said it is discussing possible areas of cooperation with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors under their existing strategic partnership, but stressed that no final agreement has been reached.
Nissan similarly said it is evaluating several collaboration opportunities and would provide further details once there is something concrete to announce. CEO Ivan Espinosa recently confirmed that software cooperation with Honda was under discussion.
The reported partnership would focus on software-defined vehicles, an area becoming increasingly important as automakers invest in centralized computing, advanced driver assistance, connected services and over-the-air software updates.
The development comes more than a year after Honda and Nissan abandoned merger talks that could have created a roughly $60 billion automotive group.
