By Kosaku Narioka


Nissan Motor and Honda Motor will consider an electric-vehicle partnership, seeking to catch up in an increasingly competitive market.

The two Japanese carmakers said Friday that they signed a memorandum of understanding to begin a feasibility study for a strategic partnership. The study's scope includes software and core EV parts, they said.

Japanese automakers have lagged behind their global peers in their shift to electric vehicles, trailing top players such as Tesla and China's BYD in EV sales.

As competition increased with successive vehicle-price cuts and high costs of development and production, some were forced out of the race.

Apple has ended its push to build its own electric vehicle, an effort once seen as having the potential to transform the auto industry.

Nissan has been remaking its global strategy following the restructuring of its alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors announced in February last year.

Renault in January canceled the initial public offering of its electric-car unit Ampere partly due to equity-market conditions.

In October, Honda scrapped a plan to develop a series of lower-priced EVs with General Motors. However, the companies are continuing to work on a number of projects together, including an initiative to bring a driverless ride service to Japan.


Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-15-24 0604ET