Can Mitsubishi's New Partners Really Save It?

Nissan has completed its acquisition of a 34-percent equity stake in Mitsubishi Motors, becoming its largest shareholder.

That means Mitsubishi will become part of the global Alliance with Nissan and Renault, helping the Alliance be in the world’s top three automotive groups by global volumes, with sales of 10 million units in fiscal year 2016. Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn also announced that Nissan and Mitsubishi will collaborate on joint purchasing, deeper localization, joint plant utilization, common vehicle platforms, technology sharing, and an expansion of the companies’ combined presence in both developed and emerging markets.

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Nissan’s CEO predicted that through its partnership with Mitsubishi, the Japanese automaker would target benefits worth 24-billion yen ($231-million) in fiscal year 2017, rising to 60-billion yen ($577-million) in fiscal year 2018 and beyond.

Nissan and Mitsubishi have collaborated on kei-cars for the Japanese market over the past five years, and Mitsubishi president and CEO Osamu Masuko reached out to Nissan for assistance following the company’s fuel economy crisis.