The Renault-Nissan alliance will now be a trio with Mitsubishi Motors joining hands with them. They have already made known their plans to explore several new projects together. A new global electric car and two saloons will be some of the upcoming products from this new collaboration.
Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have been partners earlier in 2011, their venture NMKV led them to develop a range of compact Kei cars for both. Banking on the success of their past association, they intend to take their collaboration to explore more opportunities with the inclusion of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. The alliance will see technologies and products, in the form of the newest electric vehicle developments and latest-generation platforms, shared between the companies.
The first models to be launched under the new collaboration will be two new saloons, which though badged with the Mitsubishi name, will be based on Renault’s underpinnings. The first will be a D-segment model similar in size to VW Passat produced exclusively for the North American markets, while the second will be a VW Golf-sized model competing in the global C-segment market. The first sedan will be manufactured at the Renault-Samsung facility in Busan, South Korea. The manufacturing location for the second sedan has not been decided as yet.
“Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have jointly benefited from several collaborations in the past, most recently the successful joint-venture on Kei cars in Japan,” said President and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Carlos Ghosn, “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.”
The alliance in many ways is expected to revive the fortunes of the companies involved, especially Mitsubishi, which has been suffering in the US market, will look to gain back some numbers.
Source: Autoexpress
