Honda and Nissan Advance In-Vehicle Software Collaboration, Aim to Unify OS and ECUs

Honda and Nissan are in the final stages of negotiations regarding collaboration in the field of in-vehicle software, planning to jointly develop systems based on certain technologies already developed by Nissan. The two automakers aim to standardize their in-vehicle operating systems (OS) and electronic control units (ECUs)—which manage vehicle functions via electrical signals—and hope to reach an agreement by July. They are still working out details such as intellectual property rights related to the technology. Nissan previously announced that it will officially launch a Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) platform starting in fiscal year 2026. This platform will encompass an in-vehicle OS, the data infrastructure required for software development, and the associated development environment, with ECU development proceeding in parallel. Honda plans to pay Nissan for access to its technology and will contribute its own technical expertise to the joint development effort. The two companies initially announced in March 2024 that they were considering cooperation in areas including SDVs and had launched preliminary joint research. In December of the same year, they began formal merger talks, but those negotiations were terminated in February 2025. Since then, the companies have shifted toward exploring collaboration through specific projects.