Honda and Nissan Want to Build an SUV to Challenge the Toyota Land Cruiser

KatadataOTO – Not long ago, Honda and Nissan discussed a potential merger to be finalized in June 2025. The plan also involves another Japanese automotive giant, Mitsubishi, which is already in an alliance with Nissan.

If the merger decision is successful, then by 2026, the three entities will become a manufacturer valued at 50 billion USD, the third-largest brand after Toyota and VW Group.

The merger plan also comes after rumors circulated that Nissan is not in good condition.

Although there is no final decision yet, Honda is already thinking of ways to leverage the merger. One of them is the development of a new SUV in the Land Cruiser segment using the basis of a previous model like the Nissan Armada.

Photo : Nissan

This was revealed by an unnamed Honda executive. In the future, there is a chance for Honda and Nissan to jointly develop a full-size SUV.

The Armada itself is known as the Nissan Pathfinder Armada, a large SUV using a 5,600 cc engine with a claimed power of 317 hp and a peak torque of 523.6 Nm.

“In the short term, especially in the U.S. market, Nissan has many types of vehicles in classes that we don't have,” said Noriya Kaihara, Director and Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Company, as quoted by Caranddriver, Thursday (9/1).

Seeing this, it seems the large SUV to be jointly developed will first be marketed in the U.S. to compete against other Japanese products like the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Besides the development potential, it is also possible that Honda will rebadge a previous Nissan model to compete against rivals like the Jeep Wagoneer and Toyota Sequoia in the U.S.

Photo : Nissan

The model could also be presented as a premium vehicle under the Acura brand. It would then compete against the Cadillac Escalade and Lexus LX.

If it comes to Indonesia, the price could reach billions of rupiah. Considering the Lexus LX is currently sold from Rp 3 billion to Rp 3.5 billion, while the Toyota Land Cruiser starts from Rp 2.6 billion OTR (On The Road) Jakarta.

Unfortunately, so far there has been no further explanation on the impact of the Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi merger on the Indonesian market.