Electric: Nissan and Mitsubishi rely on alliance with Renault to speed up Europe

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The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is still strong, their big bosses emphasized at the board meeting on December 6, with development projects to support. This benefits the prospects of two Japanese car manufacturers, who confirm that they want to invest in French electric car company Ampere and develop their models in the European market.

Like the Fantastic Four, the fantastic heroes, Jean-Dominique Senard and Luca de Meo, respectively president and CEO of the Renault group, as well as Makoto Uchida, CEO of Nissan, and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi, still stand together . Despite to reveal announced last November, the alliance formed between these three long-term partners has not yet said its last word. In any case, this is the message that this group of bosses who gathered for a board meeting this Wednesday, December 6 at the headquarters of Renault in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine) wanted to convey.

They emphasized the well-established future of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, driven by strong technological and joint vehicle projects. Circular economy, development in India, hybrid fuel engines: the outline of the Union, which will come into force in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the next fifteen years, has been defined. To which was added confirmation of investment by Nissan and Mitsubishi in a vehicle dedicated to 100% electric vehicles of the French car group, Ampere, which will be operational next year. The first one intends to invest up to 600 million euros in the French subsidiary, the second around 200 million. And this, to be the strategy of investors-partners and increase the speed of their electricity.

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New electric cars for Nissan and Mitsubishi

The two Japanese manufacturers have everything to gain from this union: the improvement of their range of electric vehicles, the strengthening of their presence in Europe, to face certain regional car markets, the reduction of costs, etc. The benefits are many, and, as Takao Kato, the boss of Mitsubishi, points out: “It is impossible for a company like ours to deal alone with the new market segmentation due to the uneven development of electric vehicles in the country and, therefore, to meet all regulatory criteria everywhere at the same time”.

As for Nissan, Ampère will develop and produce in France and for the European market future compact electric car, replacing the small Micra, whose costs will be reduced by half. The subsidiary will also participate in the 100% renewal of the electric Juke and Leaf. These two models will be based on the CMF-EV platform, developed in collaboration with Renault, as two new 100% electric crossovers, also expected on the European market. Note that Ampere will retain the intellectual property of common platforms.

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Nissan has expressed interest in developing a new generation of electric vehicles under its brand, “thereby reducing the total cost of use for its professional customers by up to 30%”. The automaker’s CEO, Makoto Uchida, also added that it could use Ampere’s electric unit software and plug-in innovations in other markets outside of Europe. “changing the lives of its customers”.

What about Mitsubishi? The Japanese manufacturer will entrust Ampere with the development and production of its first 100% electric SUV (C segment) in Europe for the global market. Here too, the model will be based on Ampere’s shared CMF – EV platform technology and will be produced on French soil.

So there are still joint Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi projects, especially on the electric side and, according to Luca de Meo, “The impact of this new Alliance will be greater than ten years ago, there is a lot of money at stake if all the projects come to fruition.”

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