Mitsubishi Motors will join the Honda-Nissan partnership as its market share declines in the US and China

In the year January to March, half of the global sales of Nissan and the third-largest manufacturer in Japan, came from the United States and China.

Auto | Updated:29:07:2024 | 1:18 PM | Edited by: Newsbudy |

As reported by the Nikkei newspaper on Sunday, Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors is going to become a part of an alliance between Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, forming a partnership between manufacturers with a combined sales volume of over 8 million vehicles yet.

After all Mitsubishi Motors—which 34% own by Nissan —will collaborate with Honda and Nissan yet to finalise the specifics of their strategic alliance. The three companies also plan to standardise the in-car software that operates automobiles.

While a Nissan’s representative only comment that the report was not based on anything either company has made clear, Mitsubishi Motors did not comment on the reports. After all Honda’s officials did not reply on it.

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Nissan, the third-largest manufacturer in Japan, is facing pressure as its market share in its two main markets—China and the US—which together moreover the half of its global sales since January to March, has been gradually declined.

The company almost lost its first-quarter earnings due to strong discount in the U.S., leading to a reduction in its yearly outlook on Thursday.

In March, Nissan and Honda announced that they were thinking about forming a strategic alliance to work together on the development of artificial intelligence software for automotive software platforms and components for electric vehicles.

With Nissan and Renault of France, Mitsubishi Motors is already a member of a long-standing alliance. Also the three manufacturers decided to reorganise last year with the goal of creating a smaller but more practical and flexible collaboration.

Despite China’s BYD and Tesla leading the EV market. Whereever the Japan’s automakers could be able to reduce costs and strengthen their position if Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi Motors work together independently.

Formerly popular Japanese companies now face competition from local manufacturers who have sharply increased product and won over customers with cheap cars models with software in China, the largest auto market in the world.

(After signing a nondisclosure agreement with Honda and Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors entered into ongoing negotiations. Honda and Nissan reported global sales of 4.1 million and 3.44 million units, respectively, during the fiscal year that ended in March 2024. The alliance’s total sales reach 8.35 million automobiles when combined with the 810,000 units sold by Mitsubishi Motors.)

On the other hand, Toyota, the biggest carmaker in Japan, has partnered with Daihatsu, Suzuki, Subaru, Mazda, and Hino Motors to achieve a 16 million unit sales volume together. This puts the vast network of Toyota in direct rivalry with the Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance.

Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors will contribute as much as 600 million euros ($651 million) and 200 million euros, respectively, to Renault’s electric car company Ampere as part of that deal.