Mitsubishi Motors Shows Interest in Partnership with Nissan and Honda

Back when Mitsubishi Motors joined the Renault-Nissan Alliance, there was talk of shared components and resources to expand the lineup of each brand. It took a few years, but in 2023, Mitsubishi Motors Europe reintroduced the new Mitsubishi Colt, a rebadged Renault Clio, and then Mitsubishi invested in the new Ampere battery-electric vehicle (BEV) facility. With promising sales this year, Mitsubishi Motors has been making plans with Nissan for its North American lineup. Most recently, there is news that Mitsubishi Motors has joined Nissan and Honda in a BEV joint venture to share components and software.

“We are very pleased to welcome a new member to the strategic partnership between Honda and Nissan. Mitsubishi Motors has unique technologies and expertise.” – Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida

It seems once Mitsubishi Motors invested in Ampere, the automaker started to blow up, and in a good way. The recent announcement of Mitsubishi Motors joining Nissan and Honda is another great example of automakers beginning to realize that no one automaker may have all of the solutions for a BEV. Alongside investing in startups, collaboration can help resolve BEV problems more quickly, and produce the next best electrified vehicle for the road. The planned partnership also seeks to cut down on the costs of developing new technology when that same technology is already available in another camp. It just makes sense.

This new partnership with Nissan and Honda is fairly new, but Mitsubishi and Nissan have already been talking up a storm about concepts for the Mitsubishi Motors North American market. Possibly sparked by the Mitsubishi North America business plan “Momentum 2030”, Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan are producing a new pickup truck and a new BEV for the U.S. The new business strategy brings back a lot of old Mitsubishi Motors concepts, but they can help repopulate the Mitsubishi Motors lineup with new vehicles after the discontinuation of the Mitsubishi Mirage.

It would also seem that the investment into Ampere is already boding well for Mitsubishi. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance announced a new medium SUV for Mitsubishi from Ampere shortly after the investment was complete. Dating back to May 2020, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance held a digital press conference to announce the mid-term plans for the Alliance. This was before the announcement of Alliance 2030 and “Momentum 2030” and “Challenge 2025”, another business strategy announced by Mitsubishi Motors. The Alliance claimed that each automaker would release a new model into their respective region, and then the rest would follow based on its success. Unless the Mitsubishi Colt was it, then the possibility of a new vehicle in the C or D segment is still in play.

A C-segment car is the term usually used to describe passenger cars and is described as medium-size sedans. The D-segment is for larger sedans and SUVs/crossovers. That leaves a lot of wiggle room for what kind of vehicle Mitsubishi Motors could release next.

It could bring back another old sports car nameplate with the recent registration of the Montero and Lancer. If replacing the Mitsubishi Mirage directly, a vehicle the size of a hatchback or medium sedan would do the trick for the Mirage and Mirage G4 legacy. It could be a new model altogether. We just don’t know at the moment.

No one does. But when we do find out, you can be one of the first to know about upcoming Mitsubishi models for North America when you follow us on University Mitsubishi social media.

Photo Source/Copyright: Mitsubishi Motors