Mitsubishi will tap into the Renault-Nissan expertise in battery-electric cars, while Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid tech will become the standard across the entire alliance.
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The Japanese financial daily Nikkei and other news outlets have reported, without naming sources, that Ghosn would become Mitsubishi’s chairman. The addition of Mitsubishi Motors will build on the entrepreneurial spirit and management cooperation that has characterized our alliance with Renault for 17 years.
Mitsubishi’s shares rose as much as 10 percent after the report.Spokespeople at Nissan and Mitsubishi declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.LE COST KILLERGhosn earned his nickname after ordering plant closures when restructuring Renault.
Above: Nissan Dayz Roox, a Mitsubishi-developed kei auto caught with falsified fuel economy numbers.
Mitsubishi Motors sees the alliance with Nissan leading to 25 billion yen ($241 million) in synergies for the fiscal year ending in March, Masuko said. These include Carlos Ghosn as Mitsubishi’s new chairman, as well as Hitoshi Kawaguchi, Nissan’s chief sustainability officer, and Hiroshi Karube, Nissan’s global asset manager. However, he revealed Ghosn had convinced him to retain his role. “I think he has enough work to do at both Renault and Nissan”, said Hans-Peter Wodniok, a Frankfurt-based analyst with AlphaValue.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Masuko, Ghosn said his responsibility as chairman is to make sure there is strong governance at Mitsubishi and pledged to respect the new partner’s independence. Trevor Mann, an executive vice president and chief performance officer at Nissan, will be chief operating office.
No overseas models are affected.
The latter is struggling in the aftermath of a false mileage data scandal.
“I’m pleased that Nissan will be taking the CES stage at this moment of significant change and opportunity for the automotive sector”, says Ghosn.
Significantly, Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn will become chair of the MMC board.
Japan’s second-largest carmaker stepped in to take a 34% stake in smaller rival Mitsubishi, paying £1.5bn, as the company grappled with regulators and rising costs related to the deliberate falsification of mileage tests.
Mitsubishi’s image already was marred by a massive, systematic and decades-long cover-up of defects that surfaced in the early 2000s.
“We’re going to demonstrate, hopefully together, that this is a good decision”, Ghosn said.
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Mitsubishi’s Tokyo-listed shares soared more than 10 percent to 536 yen ($5.15) in afternoon trading, shortly after the report by the leading Nikkei business daily.
