(Reuters) – Honda will take over the merchant negotiations with Nissan if the latter’s general manager, Makoto Uchida, resigned, reported the Financial Times on Monday, citing an informed person.

Solicited by Reuters, Nissan refused to comment. Honda said he made no press release in this direction.

Begun in December, the discussions between the two Japanese manufacturers, whose merger would have given birth to the fourth largest world automobile group in terms of sales, have stumbled due to increased differences, especially on the balance of powers.

The end of the negotiations was officially announced last Thursday by the two companies last Thursday. Sources have said that Honda’s project to make Nissan a subsidiary rang the failure of talks.

Honda is willing to relaunch negotiations if Nissan is led by a boss able to manage the internal opposition to the merger project, writes the Financial Times.

Honda Director General Toshihiro Mibe said last week that his company did not intend to launch a hostile takeover bid.

Makoto Uchida faces increasing pressure to straighten Nissan after declining sales for several years and tremors within the management of the group. Sources by the way of the issue said in December to Reuters that the next few months would be crucial for the manufacturer’s future and that of its managing director.

According to the Financial Times, members of the Board of Directors of Nissan and the Renault group, partner of the Japanese manufacturer, want Makoto Uchida to leave his duties in the coming months, when he expressed his intention to remain in office until ‘in 2026.

Informal discussions were initiated on the Board of Directors of Nissan about the potential calendar of the departure of Makoto Uchida, adds the newspaper.

(Daniel Leussink in Tokyo, Rhea Rose Abraham in Bangalore; Jean Terzian)

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