Photo: Mitsubishi
It was in November 2013 that Renault-Nissan announced they would collaborate with Mitsubishi Motors on several projects, joint manufacturing capabilities and product sharing. The most tangible aspect was the fact that a re-badged D-segment sedan would be offered to the struggling makers of the Evo.
That deal seems to have gone sour today as a fresh report says the Mitsubishi will not be the recipient of a Renault Latitude platform or anything of that nature. Speaking to Automotive News, the executive vice-president of Mitsubishi Motors North America said the "plan has stalled" without revealing why that is.
The D-segment sedan would have been a great addition to range, especially since the midsize market is the biggest in America. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord sell by the bucketload, but both are designed specifically to appeal to Americans, so maybe a re-badged Renault wouldn't have been so great.
Right now, all their other projects are still looking good, since Don Swearingen said "all options are still open". What are those projects?
Well, there was a second model planned, a mystery C-segment sedan sold globally. Would that be a Lancer that's developed on Renault-Nissan's new CMF platform. We don't know, but hopefully this project hasn't been derailed as well. Nissan and Mitsubishi have already collaborated successfully on a Kei cars in Japan venture in Japan.
Back in 2013, the president of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, made the following statement: "The new opportunities could be described as evidence that the ongoing collaborative projects between Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan have brought positive results, and Mitsubishi Motors hopes that any new collaborative projects with the Renault-Nissan Alliance would bring us further merits."
We don't know what went wrong, but Mitsu' is clearly no longer the industrial juggernaut it once was. Gone are the day when Evos set benchmarks for performance and their SUVs sold like hotcakes due to their affordability and reliability.
The D-segment sedan would have been a great addition to range, especially since the midsize market is the biggest in America. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord sell by the bucketload, but both are designed specifically to appeal to Americans, so maybe a re-badged Renault wouldn't have been so great.
Right now, all their other projects are still looking good, since Don Swearingen said "all options are still open". What are those projects?
Well, there was a second model planned, a mystery C-segment sedan sold globally. Would that be a Lancer that's developed on Renault-Nissan's new CMF platform. We don't know, but hopefully this project hasn't been derailed as well. Nissan and Mitsubishi have already collaborated successfully on a Kei cars in Japan venture in Japan.
Back in 2013, the president of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, made the following statement: "The new opportunities could be described as evidence that the ongoing collaborative projects between Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan have brought positive results, and Mitsubishi Motors hopes that any new collaborative projects with the Renault-Nissan Alliance would bring us further merits."
We don't know what went wrong, but Mitsu' is clearly no longer the industrial juggernaut it once was. Gone are the day when Evos set benchmarks for performance and their SUVs sold like hotcakes due to their affordability and reliability.
Google News