MW Nissan stock surges on report it's seeking Tesla deal. How the odd pairing could work.

By Steve Goldstein

Nissan Motor stock shot higher on Friday after a published report said the Japanese automaker was pursuing a deal to be bought by a Tesla-led consortium.

Nissan shares (JP:7201) rose as much as 13% in Tokyo - settling 9% higher - as the Financial Times, citing three people with "direct knowledge," said a high-level Japanese group is drawing up plans for Elon Musk's Tesla $(TSLA)$ to invest in the automaker. The group leading the plan includes a former Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, as well as Hiro Mizuno, a former Tesla board member, the FT reported.

Nissan recently saw merger talks with Honda (JP:7267) collapse.

For Tesla, the report says, the benefit of a Nissan deal would be the ability to buy its U.S. plants.

Nissan has two plants in Tennessee and one in Mississippi, employing over 12,000 people. Tesla makes all of its vehicles sold in the U.S. locally but does source components from Mexico and other countries.

Nissan's U.S. plants only produced 525,000 units last year, while they had capacity to produce 1 million units, the FT report said.

A Tesla investment would help fend off Nissan interest from Foxconn, though the report said the iPhone assembler could still play a part as a minority investor.

-Steve Goldstein

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February 21, 2025 03:06 ET (08:06 GMT)

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