Honda's acquisition of Nissan could strengthen the two struggling brands to better compete with China's BYD Co. in the global auto market. Honda's planned acquisition of Nissan would combine their more than  6 million global sales in 2024, potentially strengthening their position against China's leading automaker BYD, which sold over 3 million vehicles. Honda and Nissan are struggling to compete with China's rising automakers, which have outpaced Japan as the top car exporter and are expected to widen the gap by 2025. Both companies have reduced staffing and production in China, while Mitsubishi Motors has nearly exited the market and may join the Honda-Nissan alliance.