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Mitubishi and Nissan may share ute production

Posted on 13 March, 2017

Mitsubishi Motors and its new parent company Nissan are investigating joint production of its utes in Southeast Asia as part of a broader plan to cut costs within the alliance. Nissan bought a 34 per cent controlling stage in the ailing car maker last October for $3.3 billion, and have been aggressively seeking ways to cut costs and maximise profits. Mitsubishi COO Trevor Mann told Reuters that the two car makers may pool technical resources and production of future replacements for the Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton. Future models are likely to be based on the Thai-produced Mitsubishi models, Mann said. "Our four-by-four technology, our cost base on pickups is better than Nissan's." Nissan and Mitsubishi currently produce their utes on separate lines in their Thai factories, and moving to a common design could allow Mitsubishi to specialise in utes and for Nissan to build more cars and SUVs, which would increase productivity at both plants. The current Navara and Triton models, which both launched in 2014, are not due for a replacement until 2022, which means changes to production is still some time away. Mann stressed to Reuters that nothing is yet confirmed, and decisions still had to be made.