The Mitsubishi-Nissan alliance is going to be beneficial for both the companies since they will be able to launch new cars in mass-market segments.
Mitsubishi had been operating in India in partnership with Hindustan Motors and we all know what the outcome was. However, things seem to look bright now, considering the fact that Nissan will be picking a 34% stake in Mitsubishi for an amount of $2.2 billion which translates to a whopping Rs. 14,000 crore.
While this deal will strengthen the Nissan-Renault alliance, it also makes Mitsubishi’s future in India promising. Mitsubishi can even make use of Nissan-Renault’s plant in Tamil Nadu and can benefit from the spare capacity there along with the huge base of parts suppliers.
It is going to be interesting to check out what new cars Mitsubishi will launch in the Indian market. Renault and Nissan are making use of the CMF-A platform with the Kwid and redi-GO respectively while the mid-size segments have the Pulse, Scala and Micra, Sunny. Slightly higher up, the companies have the Duster and Terrano in their portfolio.
There are no replacements decided for the Micra and Sunny so the companies will definitely have a huge space between their entry level cars and the compact SUVs. It is likely that the alliance will develop new cars that will compete in the Rs. 6-9 lakh price segment. Mitsubishi might just launch a hatchback and sedan along with a couple of SUVs but there is still some time for any concrete decision to be out.
Mitsubishi-Nissan Alliance
– Nissan is picking a 34% stake in Mitsubishi
– Mitsubishi can make use of Renault-Nissan’s resources in India
– The companies will launch new products, competing with Maruti and Hyundai
Source – AutocarIndia.com
