Honda and Nissan are forge a partnershipP in the electrification and software sectors, and Mitsubishi is said to want to get in on the action.
Honda and Nissan first announced their partnership plan in March, when it was still in the feasibility study stage.
Japan Nikkei The newspaper reported on Sunday that Mitsubishi will now work with Honda and Nissan to finalize the details of the partnership, especially when it comes to Standardize in-vehicle software systems.
Nikkei reported that the partnership would give Japan two more dominant auto groups. challenge Tesla and a group of Chinese electric car brands.
Toyota and its affiliates will form one of the groups, while the other will be an alliance between Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi. Together, the two groups sold more than 19 million vehicles last year.
Mitsubishi has had close ties with Nissan. Both automakers are part of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance and have EV platform and technology sharingAbout 34% of Mitsubishi’s shares are also owned by Nissan.
Mitsubishi and Honda have also teamed up in the past. Most recently, the two automakers experimented with a battery leasing joint venture. called Altna.
Japanese brands have lagged behind some foreign rivals in launching electric vehicles and are now struggling to catch up. China’s EV Leader helped the country surpass Japan last year to become the world’s largest car exporter.
Toyota, Mazda and Subaru also teamed up in May to develop a new generation of internal combustion engines.
