Nissan is in talks to supply cars to Honda in the US, which would let the struggling Japanese carmaker put to use an under-used American plant, the Nikkei newspaper said on Friday without citing sources.
The company is considering making Honda pickup trucks at its Canton plant in Mississippi, which turns out models such as the Frontier, the paper said.
After Nissan's talks to merge with Honda to form the world's third-largest carmaker fell apart this year, the two said they would keep up an agreement to work together in areas such as electric vehicles.
In a statement on Friday, Nissan said it had no additional updates, though it continued to work on projects with Honda. It said it would not comment on speculation.
Honda officials were not immediately available for comment.
Nissan reported a net loss of $4.5bn (R80.84bn) in the financial year that ended in March, and has been badly hit by dwindling sales as it grapples with an ageing vehicle lineup.
It faces debt of about ¥700bn (R86.23bn) coming due this year and its debt ratings have been cut to junk by all three major credit ratings firms.
New CEO Ivan Espinosa has unveiled a sweeping cost-cutting plan that includes closing seven factories worldwide and a cut of 15% in the global workforce.
Like other legacy carmakers, Nissan and Honda face rising competition from Chinese players and difficulties stemming from US-Japan trade talks over car tariffs.
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