Two of Japan’s largest automakers have been in talks to combine their operations to form one of the world’s biggest car groups.

Nissan and Honda, both major automakers based in Japan, responded Wednesday to reports that a potential merger of the two companies could beat risk of being abandoned.

The merger between Honda and Nissan is set to fail before it even begins. Reports from Japan indicate Honda and Nissan may be preparing to scuttle merger discussions. According to Asahi Shimbun, Honda has become annoyed by the slow progress of the integration talks and instead proposed absorbing Nissan as a subsidiary.