Last April, Mitsubishi Motors publicly admitted to having falsified the fuel economy numbers of some of their minicars sold in Japan. The company also produces such vehicles for Nissan, who actually discovered the incorrect fuel consumption figures after running their own tests in their outsourced minicars. In about a week, Mitsubishi’s value dropped by 3.9 billion dollars.
The time was right for Nissan Motor Co. to pick up a third of Mitsubishi Motors’ shares at a discount. Today, they announced the completion of the acquisition, becoming their biggest stakeholder. And by adding the ailing Japanese manufacturer to the Nissan-Renault Alliance, the latter becomes one of the third largest automakers in the world.
That may sound surprising for us in North America, but Mitsubishi was doing quite well in other markets—that is, before they confessed about falsifying fuel economy numbers. For what it’s worth, the company did state that their models sold in America weren’t affected by their wrongdoings.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said that Nissan and Mitsubishi will work together on joint purchasing and plant utilisation as well as common vehicle platforms and technology sharing, which will translate into money savings and a combined presence in both developed and emerging markets.
The alliance will also help Mitsubishi overcome their fuel economy crisis and help rebuild customer trust. Ghosn will also serve as Mitsubishi Motors’ chairman in addition to holding on to his current position within the Nissan-Renault Alliance.
It’s too early to speculate on how this will affect Mitsubishi’s North-American market presence, including their model line-up doesn’t include a midsize sedan—a popular segment in the United States—and with no replacement in sight for the aging compact Lancer.
