Nikkei Asia says that Mitsubishi is in talks with Nissan and Honda about expanding their relationship, which they established earlier this year. The partnership will focus on software for cars and electric cars as Japanese companies try to get ahead of EV leaders like BYD and Tesla. Because they are working together, they can make new models for each other, like Mitsubishi’s hybrid lineup in Japan. Honda and Nissan signed a letter of intent earlier this year to start discussing how they might collaborate. The two biggest Japanese automakers are expected to collaborate on software systems for cars and electric cars. Nikkei Asia says Mitsubishi, which owns 34% of Nissan, also plans to buy the company. The story says that Mitsubishi has signed a nondisclosure agreement and is in talks with Honda and Nissan about joining their alliance. Along with Tesla and strong Chinese electric car companies like BYD and Geely, the three automakers hope that working together will help them catch up. These companies have already put a lot more money into EV research and development and growing their supply chains. Honda and Nissan said in March that they needed to “combine their strengths” and “accelerate electrification.” To do this, they would have to make investments, which means they would have to reach scale. Honda’s CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, said that the company could become a “top runner” in the electric car market by 2030. Nikkei Asia says the main goal of the partnership is to make the software used in both companies’ cars more similar. Nissan and Honda will build the software that makes this happen. The companies will also discuss the design of Mitsubishi’s software. The three companies may develop new models that complement each other’s product lines and fill in gaps in their own. Honda doesn’t have any competitors in Japan when it comes to selling pickup trucks and plug-in hybrid cars. Mitsubishi might sell cars to Honda, and the two companies might also collaborate on city cars for Japan’s small-key market. With Mitsubishi joining the relationship, the three companies will have sold more than 8 million cars around the world by the end of the fiscal year in March 2024. Honda will have sold 4.1 million cars, Nissan 3.4 million, and Mitsubishi about 800,000. If everything goes as planned, Japan’s domestic market will be split into two big groups: Honda-Nissan Mitsubishi and Toyota, which are related to Daihatsu, Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, and Hino Motors. With 16 million units sold, Toyota has the most sales of the group.
