I merged the headline and the first paragraph.
Honda and Nissan have formally agreed to hold talks over the next six months on a possible merger, a deal that would create the world’s third-largest automaker and give them more resources to compete with a growing threat from Chinese carmakers.
But in that case why frame this as a merger instead of a strip down?
Mergers are rarely if ever a blending of two equals. Big fish eats little fish. On the rare occasion that a merger tries to preserve the hierarchy, culture, etc of each of the firms it usually ends disastrously.
Save face and not freak out investors.
Idk, I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of the industry