Japan's Nissan and Honda have ended talks on a merger that would have created the world's third-largest automaker.
Nissan said in a statement that the two companies and their junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors, have agreed to terminate a memorandum of understanding to merge.
"In the future, Nissan and Honda will cooperate as part of a strategic partnership aimed at ushering in the era of intelligent and electrified vehicles, seeking to create new value and maximize the corporate value of both companies," the statement said.
Nissan and Honda said in December that they would begin talks on a possible merger in the next six months. This would give them more leverage to fight growing competition from Chinese automakers such as BYD.
