Mitsubishi-Nissan alliance to extend further in Southeast Asia

Amidst partnership in building plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), the Mitsubishi-Nissan alliance has laid more joint projects on their desk in hopes to cut production expenses, particularly in Southeast Asia. 

In a report published by Automotive News, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. is planning to share platforms for future pickup models in the Southeast Asian Region. Mitsubishi's chief operating officer Trevor Mann has told reporters in an interview at that both brands may jointly come up with technical plans for future replacements for the Asian-spec Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton (locally known as the Strada). 

Of note, Mann added that the architecture of Mitsubishi pickups are most likely to become the base of future models. He claimed that Mitsubishi's 4x4 technology's cost base on pickups is better than their now-parent company Nissan. 

As a review, Nissan became the latter's parent company after acquiring 34% stake over Mitsubishi as part of a $2.3 billion deal (around P 110.6 billion). 

Going back, the COO said that the alliance's cooperation will instantly spread to other Asian countries, including the Philippines and Indonesia where manufacturing plants are locally producing units like the Mirage G4 here. However, it is said that the pickups will stay based in Thailand as sales there account for 40%. 

In addition, reports say that Nissan and Mitsubishi are already on joint logistics for car and parts transport to further accumulate savings.