The Japanese automakers were hoping to strengthen their position together to compete with China, Tesla, and Toyota.

Japan's Nissan and Honda said on Thursday that their boards had voted to end talks to merge but would continue to cooperate in electric vehicles. A merger would have created an auto group worth some $60 billion and the world's fourth-biggest by vehicle sales after Toyota,

Merger talks between Honda and Nissan have collapsed after the firms failed to agree on a multi-billion-dollar tie-up. The Japanese carmakers, along with junior partner Mitsubishi, had aimed to combine their businesses to fight back against competition from rival firms, especially in China.