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.

Nissan and Honda ended merger talks to forge a $60 billion car company on Thursday, pitching Nissan deeper into uncertainty and highlighting the pressure on legacy automakers from Chinese rivals upending the industry.

The proposal, which was announced in December, ran into a wall after Honda proposed a structure that would make Nissan its subsidiary instead of an equal partner.