Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors is set to join the alliance of Honda Motor and Nissan Motor. The merger will create a group that sells more than eight million cars a year. This was reported by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, according to Reuters.
Nissan owns a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi. According to Nikkei, the automaker will now work to finalize the details of the strategic partnership. They mainly intend to standardize software for the management and control of various functions and systems inside the vehicle.
Mitsubishi declined to comment on the report, and a Honda spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. A Nissan spokesman said the report was not based on anything either company had announced.
Nissan and Honda announced in March that they are considering a strategic partnership to work together on the production of components for electric cars and the use of artificial intelligence in automotive software platforms.
Mitsubishi Motors is already part of a long-standing alliance with Nissan and French Renault. Last year, the three automakers agreed to restructure this alliance to create a smaller, but more pragmatic and agile partnership.
The collaboration of the three companies could help Japanese automakers cut costs and strengthen their fight against fierce competition in the electric car market, which is dominated by companies such as China’s BYD and America’s Tesla. Moreover, in China, which is the largest car market in the world, Japanese car companies used to have a strong position. But now they are up against domestic brands that quickly increased production and won customers with cheap cars.
The push for cooperation comes as Nissan, Japan’s third-largest carmaker, has been steadily losing share in its two biggest markets, the US and China. In the last fiscal year that ended in March, the two countries accounted for half of the automaker’s global sales. The automaker cut its full-year outlook this week after sweeping discounts in the U.S. nearly wiped out all of its first-quarter profit.
Source: www.tyden.cz
