Together, three Japanese companies will try to effectively confront the challenges of the time and reduce the costs of developing new models.
The Nissan-Honda alliance does not yet exist, but this spring the companies announced their intention to create one. Within the framework of this alliance, Nissan and Honda are going to jointly develop and produce new models of cars (mainly electric, but not only) and software for them, jointly purchase components and generally join forces where it will be expedient. The specific contours of the upcoming deal have not yet been outlined, but today it became known that a third player will join the new alliance — Mitsubishi, Reuters reported with reference to its own sources.
Let us recall that Nissan and Mitsubishi are already in an alliance with Renault, but this alliance has been smoldering since its relaunch last year, and its effectiveness and raison d'être today are highly questionable. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance needed a relaunch after five years of disarray and vacillation caused by the scandalous arrest of its chief architect, Carlos Ghosn, in 2018. Mitsubishi joined the alliance in 2016 under rather strange circumstances: it became dependent on Nissan as a result of a scandal involving the fuel economy of Mitsubishi cars, and Nissan provoked this scandal — it was one of Carlos Ghosn's many clever tricks as he built his empire. Ghosn's future plans included merging Renault and Nissan into one large company, but these plans were not destined to be realized. Nissan currently owns 34% of Mitsubishi Motors shares.
Within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, Mitsubishi found itself in the position of a poor relative and became responsible for developing emerging markets (mainly Southeast Asia and Oceania) instead of those where the really big money is (China, the USA, Europe). Mitsubishi left the Chinese market last year, but recently it has re-awakened its interest in the North American market, for which a bunch of new products have been announced. This interest is understandable: despite the meager model range, Mitsubishi sales in the USA in the first half of this year increased by 12.3% (compared to sales in January-June 2023) to 51,130 cars. American buyers can also be understood: Mitsubishi models, due to their advanced age, are cheaper than most competitors. In order for new Mitsubishi models not to be too expensive, they need to join the Nissan and Honda alliance. We are waiting for official statements on this matter.