Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi to join forces

MITSUBISHI and the existing Renault-Nissan alliance are set to work together on a series of new cars.

Discussions aren’t finished but as part of the deal Mitsubishi will get hold of a Renault chassis large enough to use as a base a full-size saloon for the North American market.

The firms will also further develop an electric version of a Japan-only ‘kei car’. The particularly small and city-friendly petrol-powered car, which was the product of an earlier collaboration between the two companies, will go global as an electric model.

Nissan and Mitsubishi already have a shared company in Japan, called NMKV, which developed and sold two versions of the kei-car for its domestic market. It is this company that will be expanded to produce the electric version of the car.

Renault-Nissan will be able to cherry-pick the best bits of Mitsubishi’s current model line-up to bolster its own ranges, as well as benefitting from the latter’s research into electric vehicle propulsion.

Both companies share a desire to market zero exhaust emissions cars and were early adopters of the technology. Their previous successful partnerships have proved fruitful enough to embark on the same path again.

President and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Carlos Ghosn said: “Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have jointly benefited from several collaborations in the past, most recently the successful joint-venture on Kei cars in Japan.

“I welcome the direction being taken towards this broader cooperation, creating new opportunities for Renault in addition to further leveraging the productive relationship between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.”

Osamu Masuko, President of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation commented: “The new opportunities could be described as evidence that the ongoing collaborative projects between Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan have brought positive results.

“Mitsubishi Motors hopes that any new collaborative projects with the Renault-Nissan Alliance would bring us further merits."

By Press Association reporter