Japanese auto giants Honda and Nissan confirmed they've scrapped merger talks announced in December​, ending a potential combination that would have created the world's third-largest automaker.

The chief executives of the two automakers, at separate news conferences, traded jabs about Honda’s bid to change the terms of the deal.

Japan's Nissan and Honda said on Thursday that their boards had voted to end talks to merge but would continue to cooperate in electric vehicles. A merger would have created an auto group worth some $60 billion and the world's fourth-biggest by vehicle sales after Toyota,