The Renault-Nissan alliance and Mitsubishi have scrapped plans to jointly develop and build new vehicles aimed at cutting manufacturing costs and taking out spare capacity.
The plans, announced in November 2013, have fallen through due to issues with costs and currency-related issues, Mitsubishi told the Wall Street Journal. The existing NMKV joint venture that produces mini cars in Japan will continue.
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The move was aimed at reducing steep development costs and the carmakers were looking at a number of possibilities including a plan to rebrand one of Renault’s larger sedans made at its Samsung Busan plant in South Korea as a Mitsubishi – probably reviving the Galant nameplate – in the US and Canada.
Such a move would provide a platform for Renault to introduce its models into the US while the companies were also considering rebadging a C-segment Renault as a Mitsubishi (Lancer) globally.
Mitsubishi said it has not ruled out searching for other partners while the alliance would not confirm that the plans had been abandoned. Insiders told the WSJ, however, the project was scrapped because Renault did not foresee enough sales volume to make the venture profitable.
The two automakers already sell a jointly developed 660cc minicar which is produced at Mitsubishi’s Mizushima plant in Japan. The NMKV JV was established in June 2011 and the first products – the Nissan Dayz and Mitsubishi eK Wagon – went on sale in Japan in 2013.
