Renault-Nissan Alliance chairman and CEO Carlos Goshn told media earlier this week that he wants Nissan and Mitsubishi (which have recently formed an alliance, when Nissan bought a 34% stake in Mitsubishi) to remain distinct in their marketing and sales strategies and he wants each brand must remain identifiable and undiluted.
Following this, Australian publication CarAdvice reports that Trevor Mann, Mitsubishi Motors chief operations officer told media this week in Sydney he and Ghosn have assessed what needs to happen for the next-generation versions of the Nissan Navara and the Mitsubishi Triton.
Referring to the next-gen Triton, Trevor Mann says, ““As far as what the customer sees, feels and touches, that will be Mitsubishi. The advantage of the alliance, obviously it’s component sharing, platform sharing, this type of thing. It’s a necessary element for the alliance, and for Mitsubishi.”
So there you have it. Parts and platform sharing confirmed.
Mann added, “What we would do is say, first of all, which is the best. So, we could be talking about powertrains, we could be talking about platforms. So which technically will we say is the best platform, technically which is best in terms of performance. And obviously from a cost point of view, which is the cheapest. We’ll make this balance between best and affordable.
“What Mitsubishi wants as its key attributes for its pick-up will be engineered by Mitsubishi. What Nissan wants for its key attributes for its pick-up will be engineered by Nissan,” he said.