Nissan's future reportedly became the sticking point in negotiations, with Honda pushing to make its smaller competitor a direct subsidiary.

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 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.