"Fake News Strikes Again": Musk Dismisses Financial Times Report On Tesla & Nissan

Update:

A Financial Times report claimed earlier that a "high-level Japanese group that includes a former prime minister has drawn up plans for Elon Musk's Tesla to invest in the struggling carmaker Nissan." The report was dismissed as fake news, not only by Elon Musk but also by one of the former Tesla board members mentioned in the story.

"I have absolutely no involvement in what is reported in this article and am unaware of any such moves by the Japanese government. I am no longer with Tesla but personally doubt if Tesla has any interest at all in Nissan factories as Tesla's factory design is so unique," former Tesla border member Hiro Mizuno wrote on X, tagging Elon Musk in the post. 

Musk responded: "The fake news strikes again." 

*   *   * 

Shares of Nissan Motor in Tokyo jumped on Friday after the Financial Times reported that a "high-level Japanese group that includes a former prime minister has drawn up plans for Elon Musk's Tesla to invest in the struggling carmaker Nissan." This follows the collapse of merger talks between Nissan and rival Honda earlier this month

Sources told the FT that former Tesla board member Hiro Mizuno is leading the initiative, with support from former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his former aide Hiroto Izumi. Those familiar with the matter said several Nissan board members know about the new proposal, which could involve the world's largest electric vehicle maker acquiring Nissan's US plants.

News about a consortium of investors seeking to "court Tesla on Nissan investment" comes just weeks after Honda's proposed $58 billion merger with Nissan to create the world's fourth-largest carmaker collapsed. 

FT noted that the failed Honda-Nissan deal has "spurred fears that Japan's third-largest carmaker could fall into potentially hostile foreign hands, with Taiwanese iPhone assembler Foxconn, activists, and private equity groups circling." 

The report was not clear about which Nissan assets were part of the deal.

Nissan shares in Tokyo closed up 9.5% on Friday. Shares are trading at Covid lows...

On X, Tesla's Elon Musk told investor Sawyer Merritt: "The Tesla factory IS the product. The Cybercab production line is like nothing else in the automotive industry." Musk was responding to Merritt's post, citing the FT report. 

"For Tesla, it's difficult to think there are any merits in buying Nissan," Yasuhiko Hirakawa, head of investment at Rakuten Investment Management, who Bloomberg quoted. 

Hirakawa noted, "It obviously has no need for legacy assets like engines and assembly lines. It's difficult to imagine something Tesla needs that Nissan can offer."

Right, especially since Tesla has its own struggles, including the first annual sales drop in a decade. 

Rieko Otsuka, an MCP Asset Management strategist, explained, "Whoever the buyer is, Nissan's restructuring is unavoidable."