Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp is set to join an alliance between Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co, creating an auto group with combined sales of more than 8 million vehicles, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.
Mitsubishi Motors, which is 34 percent owned by Nissan, would work with Honda and Nissan to finalize the details of their partnership, but the three firms intend to standardize in-vehicle software that controls cars, Nikkei said.
Mitsubishi Motors declined to comment on the report, while a Nissan spokesperson would only say the report was not based on something either of the companies had announced. Honda did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo: AFP
The push comes as Nissan has been steadily losing market share in its two largest markets, the US and China, which together accounted for half of its global sales in the year to March.
On Thursday, the company cut its annual outlook after heavy discounting in the US almost wiped out its first-quarter profit.
Nissan and Honda said in March that they were considering a strategic partnership to collaborate on producing electric vehicle components and artificial intelligence in automotive software platforms.
Mitsubishi Motors is already part of a long-standing alliance with Nissan and France’s Renault SA that the three automakers last year agreed to restructure, aiming for a more agile partnership.
Separate collaboration between Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi Motors could help Japan’s automakers cut costs and beef up to battle tough competition in electric vehicles, dominated by companies like BYD Co (比亞迪).
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