Nissan will fall victim to a cost-cutting “carnage” as it joins forces with Japanese rivals Hondaformer Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told CNBC on Tuesday.

“I think Honda will be in charge without a doubt, which is very sad considering he ran Nissan for 19 years (and) brought Nissan to the top of the industry to see them fall victim to carnage because there is a complete duplication between Nissan and Honda,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

Ghosn, who once led three automakers under the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance, has been living in Lebanon since his arrest in Japan in November 2018, fleeing trial on financial crimes charges. He denies wrongdoing.

“There is practically no complementarity here, which means that if they want to achieve synergies, then perhaps by cutting costs, duplicating plans, duplicating technology, and we know exactly who will pay the price for this. It’s running.” “The smaller partner will be Nissan,” said Ghosn.

Nissan had greater complementarity with France RenaultGhosn appreciated and referred to a long-standing partnership that has largely been wound up.

Speculation about a possible merger between Honda and Nissan began earlier this month, and the two companies confirmed the official start of business integration talks at a press conference on Monday. Under current proposals, a holding company would act as the parent of both companies and be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with Honda – whose market capitalization is about four times that of Nissan – nominating most of the new company’s board members. Nissan’s strategic partner Mitsubishi is also in talks about joining the group.

A Nissan-Honda group with sales of $54 billion would overtake South Korea Hyundai to become the third largest automobile manufacturer in the world after Japan Toyota and Germany Volkswagen. The integrated group would also represent a milestone in the consolidation of the auto industry that has long been anticipated both in Japan and globally as companies struggle to meet the costs of developing electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology.

Honda and Nissan executives stressed Monday that a combined company would be able to share the information and resources needed to compete and achieve economies of scale in the transition to electric vehicles, boosting operating profit to an expected $3 Trillion yen (US$19.1 billion) could be increased in the long term.

Nissan launches the ambitious merger and at the same time takes a profound step The restructuring, announced in November, will reduce global production capacity by a fifth and cut 9,000 jobs.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe acknowledged Monday that some shareholders might feel his company was supporting struggling Nissan as part of the deal, but stressed that corporate integration talks “would not come to fruition.” , if the two car manufacturers could not survive on their own.

Still, Ghosn told CNBC that the merger plan suggests that “Nissan is panicking and looking for someone to bail them out of the situation because they are unable to find the solution themselves.”

He expressed “big doubts” that Nissan’s turnaround will be successful, without giving details.

Kei Okamura, SVP and portfolio manager of Neuberger Berman, shared the view that details of the merger plan still need to be clarified.

“If you’re an investor, think about the three to five earnings prospects. What was announced (Monday) was the short-term perspective, that is, the schedule and the long-term vision. The only question is how. “Will this combined company get there, and there’s still a lot of uncertainty ahead,” Okamura told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday.

“Post-merger integration will be absolutely essential…if these companies are unable to truly fully integrate in terms of the people, the assets and of course the culture, these deals have the potential to unravel , and we.” “I have to keep in mind that this deal may not go through if (Nissan) doesn’t follow through on its turnaround program,” Okamura added.

Nissan declined to comment for this story beyond its statement Monday. Honda did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.