Now that Nissan owns 34% equity stake in Mitsubishi, Nissan co-CEO Hiroto Saikawa said that the two companies could develop a new platform together that could underpin future bakkies.
Last week, Nissan finally completing its acquisition in Mitsubishi, placing it within the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
“Many companies face the challenge of ageing models. It happened to Nissan, it happened to Mitsubishi. I cannot give you full assessment of Mitsubishi right now. [But] I can tell you that, we will see this in two way benefit, said Saikawa.
This could see the next-generation Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton (L200 in some markets) sharing the same architecture, which would help to cut development costs of both.
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance has also stepped into the role of chairman of Mitsubishi.
In a guest column for Automotive News, Ghosn said, “Nissan stands to benefit by harnessing Mitsubishi’s know-how in the kei car segment in Japan and its strength in pickup trucks”.