Nissan and Mitsubishi building cars TOGETHER?? - Altima Forums.net - The Nissan Altima Enthusiast Talk and Discussion Forums

**Unclear_Motives** · 12-30-2010

Apparently nothing on their agenda is headed to the US (which I think is a good thing), but Nissan & DSM are definitely joining ranks. Here's the press release:

Quote:

12.16.2010 , YOKOHAMA/TOKYO

Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors to Expand Scope of Cooperation

- Expansion of current OEM projects into study on overseas co-production, mini car in Japan -

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced that the two companies agreed to expand their current scope of cooperation towards new projects that will further strengthen mutual competitiveness, especially in the Japanese mini car and global commercial vehicle businesses.

Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors currently have several OEM agreements for vehicles in the Japanese market, including for mini cars and commercial vehicles. In addition to expanding the scope of the current OEM partnership, the two companies agreed to study new opportunities which would generate additional synergies. The cooperation agreement between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors will be complementary to any agreements the two parties have already established with other partners.

Regarding the expansion of the OEM partnership, the following have been agreed:

Nissan to provide a light van/wagon to Mitsubishi Motors for the Japanese domestic market
Mitsubishi Motors to provide an SUV to Nissan for markets in the Middle East

Discussions are ongoing for Nissan to provide Mitsubishi Motors with upper-end segment models for the Japanese domestic market.

Regarding new opportunities, two projects are currently under study:

The manufacture of the current generation of Nissan Navara pickup truck at Mitsubishi Motors' plant in Thailand. Longer-term, the two companies are evaluating manufacturing and engineering collaboration of a new generation one-ton pickup truck.
Establishment of a 50:50 joint venture for product planning and engineering of mini cars for the Japanese domestic market.

Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said “This agreement is important for Nissan as it supports our expansion in emerging markets, meets immediate capacity needs overseas, and enables us to grow our mini car business in Japan. Our relationship with Mitsubishi demonstrates the ability of the Renault-Nissan Alliance - with its network of global partnerships - to constantly evolve and create new win-win relationships with other companies in function of specific needs and shared objectives”.

Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko said “Amid the drastically changing economic and market environments, Mitsubishi Motors is in partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroën in the areas of SUVs and EVs, and is always searching for other optimal solutions suited for each area of our business. This agreement to expand our business cooperation with Nissan is founded on our good business relationship since 2003, through several OEM agreements of mini cars and commercial vehicles. I believe that the expansion of our OEM agreement will complement each others' regional characteristics and product lineup, and the one-ton pickup and mini car projects will be the best solution to strengthen each others' competitiveness”.

DJ · 12-30-2010

Hmm, interesting. Reminds me of the Mitsubishi / Eagle / Plymouth partnership.

Quote:

Two of Eagle's first models, the Eagle Premier and the Eagle Medallion, were designed by AMC in cooperation with its former corporate partner (and 46.4 percent owner), Renault. The remainder of the brand's cars were simply rebadged versions of cars sold by other Chrysler Corporation divisions, as well as some captive imports produced by Mitsubishi Motors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(automobile)

Remember the Mitsubishi Eclipse / Eagle Talon / Plymouth Laser? Same car, lol.

Quote:

The Laser and its siblings: the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Eagle Talon, were the first vehicles produced under the newly formed Diamond Star Motors, a joint-venture between the Chrysler Corporation and the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.

**Unclear_Motives** · 12-31-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ

...Remember the Mitsubishi Eclipse / Eagle Talon / Plymouth Laser? Same car, lol.

Yeah I remember all too well. I found something interesting with my wife's 2003 Galant...

Apparently a popular modification is to swap out the automatic transmission and to install a manual transmission from either a cirrus/stratus, orrrr a hyundai sonata (??)

I had no idea Hyundai had joined that party...

DaRevolver · 12-31-2010

Yess A Nissan Evolution...lol

MrHiggles · 01-01-2011

370 Evo....Um...same body but HUGE evo wing...Its like a platypus

**mikejamesbyma** · 01-06-2011

I'd buy it for the wing...

**superbad** · 01-06-2011

would love to have an AWD nissan sports car or sedan

MrHiggles · 01-07-2011

We do have a AWD sports car. The GT-R$$$$$$$$$$$$

**superbad** · 01-08-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrHiggles

We do have a AWD sports car. The GT-R$$$$$$$$$$$$

yeah one i can afford in my lifetime...lol
and not have to spend over a grand on an oil change

tdark1582 · 02-12-2011

they need to make another altima se-r

carlos9827 · 11-07-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdark1582

they need to make another altima se-r

+1

Penguinchit · 11-07-2011

+2

Nthomas33 · 12-21-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdark1582

they need to make another altima se-r

They should've made the first one awd. And gave it the 300hp v6 from the 350. Idk about you but I don't see the SE-R being that special when you can basically make your own from a regular SE. Just IMO

**mikejamesbyma** · 01-24-2012

Kyled, do you work for M'lady Nissan?

EarlR · 01-25-2012

An AWD Altima would be an awesome car. The only (major) things I would change about my SE if I could would be to make it RWD (AWD w/b even better) and install better front seats.

The biggest problem with an AWD Altima would be the price - a loaded 3.5 SR now is a $30k+ car, an AWD Altima would have to be pushing $40k. At that point the competition changes from Toyota/Honda/Mazda/Ford/Chevy to Infiniti/Lexus/Acura/Audi/BMW, and I'm not sure Nissan wants to go there.