Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida met with his Honda counterpart Toshihiro Mibe on Thursday to say he wanted to end their merger talks after the larger automaker proposed making Nissan a subsidiary, said a source with knowledge of the matter.

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.

TOKYO — Nissan is set to call off merger talks with rival Honda, a source said Wednesday, abandoning a $60 billion-plus tie-up that would have created the world's No. 3 automaker and raising questions about how it will drive a turnaround by itself.