Japanese titans Honda and Nissan are considering a partnership to reduce the cost of developing electric cars and advanced driver assistance technologies.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding and will soon begin investigating areas where they can most effectively cut costs through collaboration. This includes the joint procurement of key components to exploit economies of scale.

They added in a joint statement that any deal will primarily concern EV parts and software platforms and it may “further accelerate efforts toward carbon neutrality and zero traffic-accident fatalities”.

Nissan president and CEO Makoto Uchida said “Honda and Nissan face common challenges” and they “aim to find win-wins for sustainable growth”.