Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi are to standardise their electric and hybrid vehicle technology, according to local reports in Japan quoting Carlos Ghosn – chairman and CEO of both Groupe Renault and Nissan Motor.
Ghosn is in Japan this week to formally add to his long list of titles, that of chairman of Mitsubishi Motors following the completion Nissan Motor's acquisition of a 34% controlling stake in the company in October for JPY237bn (US$2.3bn).
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The acquisition will help strengthen the 17-year partnership between Renault and Nissan, by forming a group with annual global sales of around 10m vehicles. This puts it in an exclusive group of the three largest global automakers – alongside the Toyota and Volkswagen groups.
In an interview with the Nikkei, Ghosn said the group will benefit in particular from Mitsubishi's more advanced hybrid technology which will be adopted throughout the group and thus avoid R&D duplication.
The three brands combined are expected to generate the biggest economies of scale in the global electric vehicle sector, based on current volumes.
