Perodua is now flushed with cash reserves and might be able to buy into Nissan
Think about it. Perodua needs an electric car platform. Nissan has the LEAF which was a successful electric car for some years in Europe and also Japan until BYD, Tesla and a host of other Chinese electric car manufacturers introduced their ‘technology heavy’ electric vehicles with hard to resist prices.
Plus, Nissan has the e-POWER powertrains which promise great efficiency which we have already tested in the recently launched in Malaysia Nissan Kicks which has ePOWER.
So, we know that Nissan seriously need cash infusion right now, Nissan has years of electrified technology in their possession, Nissan has decades of small car engineering know how (Nissan March, Nissan Cube, Nissan Note and Nissan Aura).
Lets not forget the current compact electric car that Nissan has already produced for the Japanese market, the award winning Nissan Sakura. Also, they have the Nissan Townstar compact electric delivery van (which could be the revival of the ‘RUSA’ as an EV).
Nissan also has four hybrid models right now which is the Nissan DAYZ, Nissan Roox, Nissan Qashqai and the quirky Nissan Juke crossover.
Therefore, if and this is a BIG if, Perodua buys into Nissan, they will be able to look at a new range of hybrid and electric compact vehicles for nearly all necessary segments and give Malaysian consumers ‘great’ compact efficient and even safe vehicles at sensible prices.
Lets not forget the growing ASEAN electric and hybrid car market. Perodua can expand its exports and even challenge rivals from Europe. Nissan has the Ariya electric SUV.
For an e-Power SUV, there is the all new X-Trail and for a compact hatch there is the Nissan Note. With the right strategy and price, the Asia Pacific region needs more hybrid electric vehicles to challenge the new hybrid models coming from BYD, Great Wall Motor and Jaecoo.
What will it cost? Well the earlier preliminary agreement between Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker and Nissan, third largest, was announced in March 2024. That merger would result in a behemoth worth about USD55 billion based on the market capitalization of all three automakers (Mitsubishi was in the mix as well).
Right now Nissan’s share price has fallen to the point where it is considered something of a bargain. A recent new report says that Taiwan maker of the iPhone, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, is exploring a possible acquisition of Nissan as part of its desire to get into the EV market.
Estimates put the Nissan merger cost to be about RM260 billion …….. yes it is sizeable amount of money but In the financial year 2023/2024, the revenue of Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua), amounted to approximately RM10.64 billion, an increase from the year before.
Did you know that in March 2024, Sime Darby Berhad completed its full acquisition of Perodua’s parent company UMW Holdings Berhad and UMW has a sizeable share 38 percent share in Perodua whilst MBM Resources has 20 percent share in Perodua.
We hope that this article might ‘tickle’ someone in Perodua or Sime Group to look at our suggestion and put Perodua on the global automotive map.
