Even if the merger is off, Nissan remains keen on working with Honda in areas such as electric vehicles and software defined vehicles.

Don’t underestimate the pride of an ailing company. After signing a memorandum of understanding in late December to “consider” a merger with Honda, a source told Reuters that Nissan is backing out of the discussion.

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.