Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to Strengthen After Pandemic

It’s been a long time waiting, but the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance finally released its mid-term plans, announced back in January 2020 before all his pandemic crisis started to happen. At one point, the Alliance seemed to be in jeopardy with sales falling and needing to put production on hold, but according to a recent news conference, the three automakers are only aiming to deepen the Alliance and rely on one another to keep the group going strong. The three automakers need each one another more than ever after the global coronavirus pandemic, and a business plan has taken form.

“The Alliance is a unique strategic and operational partnership in the automotive world and gives us a strong edge in the ever-changing global automotive landscape…The new business model will enable the Alliance to bring out the most of each company’s assets and performing capabilities, while building on their respective cultures and legacies. The three companies of the Alliance will cover all vehicle segments and technologies, across all geographies, for the benefit of every customer, while increasing their respective competitiveness, sustainable profitability and social and environmental responsibility.” – Jean-Dominique Senard, Chairman of the Alliance Operating Board and Renault

The new business plan comes with a few core focus points: (1) pushing the Alliance’s standardization strategy to make platforms and chassis more easily shared across all automakers, like Nissan’s new EV platform, (2) released one product per segment that all three companies agree on and support, (3) ensuring vehicles that follow are produced with the most competitive setup at the time when appropriate, and (4) continue to build on product sharing in light commercial vehicles. What does this all mean? Something pretty interesting.

Unlike before, when the Alliance was first formed of three automakers, although joined together to enter new ventures together, each automaker was going to remain a separate entity in competition with one another. Now, with so many automakers in shambles and worry about doing anything that won’t help themselves, it’s amazing to hear that the Alliance has plans to become a more integrated entity where each automaker will help the other. It begins with a leader-follower scheme where each automaker will lead one of the regions in the world, and each new model per product segment would be developed by the leading company in that particular segment and then the other automakers would follow by doing the same once they witness that new model’s success or failure. Not only will this reduce 40-percent of unnecessary investments, but nearly half of all new cars to come from the Alliance will be jointly developed by 2025.

When it comes to the most competitive setups in vehicles, the Alliance is already working on platforms and powertrains with new technologies to release. They’re already working on autonomous driving from Nissan, a connected-car technology system based on the Android Operating System by Renault in China, a new E-body core system for electric-electronic architecture by Renault, the new e-PowerTrains from both Renault and Nissan, and a new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) from Mitsubishi for the C/D segment, or a vehicle ranging from subcompact to large cars. This new business model will allow each company to focus on their expertise while supporting the other to reinforce the Alliance as a whole, and not just parts of a sum.

Ready for the new Renault-Nissan-Alliance? Follow along with us on University Mitsubishi social media.

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