Mitsubishi Set to Join Nissan and Honda in new Alliance

Both Renault Alliance partners, Nissan and Mitsubishi, look set to join a new commercial partnership with Honda on battery-electric vehicle production and software.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reports both Nissan and Mitsubishi are poised to join Honda in a commercial partnership that creates an automotive entity claiming more than 8 million vehicle sales annually.

The newspaper says Mitsubishi Motors, which is 34% owned by Nissan, will work with Honda and Nissan to finalize the details of their strategic partnership. The three automakers intend to cooperate on a single standard for in-vehicle software.

Reuters reports that the move is spurred by Nissan’s shrinking market share in its two biggest markets, the U.S. and China, which accounted for half of its global sales in the first quarter of 2024.

Nissan and Honda already have been in talks since March over a collaborative partnership exploring production of BEVs and artificial intelligence-powered vehicle software.

The existing Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance agreed to a restructuring last year to slim down the partnership following the former CEO Carlos Ghosn’s financial scandal that saw him flee from Japanese justice while accused of false accounting.

Reuters says Mitsubishi declines to comment, while a Nissan spokesperson will only say the report isn't based on something either of the companies had announced. Spokespeople for Honda did not respond to a request for comment.