This year has been troubling for almost all foreign carmakers in that country, which boasts the world’s largest car market.

Chinese car maker BYD saw sales jump at the end of last year, leaving it closer to claiming the title of the world's best-selling electric vehicle (EV) maker of 2024. The company says it sold 207,734 EVs in December, taking its annual total to 1.76 million, as subsidies and discounts helped attract customers.

Together, Honda and Nissan would also pose more of a threat to Toyota Motor Corp., which is the world’s biggest automaker followed by Volkswagen AG.

This story has been updated. The plan announced Monday by Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan to merge by 2026 highlights how the rise of Chinese automakers such as BYD is pressuring the industry ...

This merger could create the world’s third-largest automaker, with combined resources to dominate the EV market. Honda and Nissan hope to outpace rising Chinese brands like BYD and Nio.

Honda and Nissan have strong presences in major markets like North America, Europe, and Japan. However, they are struggling in China. “Both Honda and Nissan have significant overcapacity issues in China, which requires optimization before any merger talks, James Hong, an analyst at Macquarie Securities Korea Ltd., said.

Merger talks between Japanese carmakers Nissan and Honda reflect their "desperate" need to catch up with the fast-developing electric vehicle (EV) industry in China, their important overseas market, a senior Chinese industry insider said on Monday.

Honda Motor Co. absorbing Nissan Motor Co. could give the two struggling Japanese brands the scale they need to take on China’s BYD Co., sales figures released Wednesday show. Honda, which ...

A Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. combination could give the two struggling Japanese brands the scale to take on China’s BYD Co., sales figures released Wednesday show.

Nissan sold just over 3 million, according to a separate statement. China’s biggest automaker BYD sold 3.76 million vehicles over the same period, a clear illustration of how weak Nissan and Honda are alone, but how together, they may stand a fighting chance.

BYD continued to rapidly expand in 2024, selling 4.27 million vehicles, an impressive 41.3% jump over the 3 million sales in 2023. However, the company is not expected to usurp Tesla as the largest seller of battery-electric vehicles.

All-electric vehicles represented 41.5 per cent of BYD total sales with 1.7m BEVs sold and hybrids securing the rest. Vying with BYD is Tesla, which will reveal its 2024 sales figures in the first quarter of 2025. Tesla delivered 1.8m pure-EVs in 2023, though the American firm was 2.3 per cent down on this figure after nine months in 2024.