The Honda and Nissan alliance that was announced recently will have another entrant. A new report indicates that Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors will soon form a part of the alliance, further strengthening the conglomerate. Altogether, the 3 auto majors boast of a combined sales of more than 8 million vehicles.
A report by Nikkei suggests that Mitsubishi Motors will work with Honda and Nissan to finalise the collaboration details. Note that Mitsubishi Motors is partially (34%) owned by Nissan Motors. It shall now work with the newly formed alliance to standardise in-vehicle software that controls the cars of the three brands.
As of now, there has been no official confirmation on the report from any of the three companies. However, it seems likely that the new entrant shall further help Nissan restrengthen its losing grip in international markets.
The Nissan-Honda alliance was first announced in March this year. The strategic partnership will see the two majors focus on electric vehicles and artificial intelligence in their cars. It is likely that Mitsubishi Motors will make similar efforts if or when it becomes a part of the alliance.
A similar partnership is seen between Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan and France’s Renault. The long-standing partnership pushed for a restructure last year in an aim to downsize and bring agility to their processes.
Restrengthening Japanese Dominance
The Japanese automakers have been marred with a losing presence over the past couple of years in many international markets. With the dominance of Tesla and several Chinese EV makers like BYD rising, the Japanese brands are losing sales in major markets like the US and China. Just last week, Nissan slashed its annual outlook after negligible first-quarter profit in the US.
With Mitsubishi now entering the Honda-Nissan alliance, the three Japanese firms will likely restrengthen their efforts to expand their presence in international EV markets in the time to come.
We shall update this space with any developments on the partnership. Stay tuned to this space for more.
