The alliance is expected to become world’s third-largest carmaker
As the car world continuously evolves, car brands will be born, disappear or get swallowed by larger conglomerates, just like in one of Mother Nature's ecosystems.
It's the case of the financially-troubled Mitsubishi Motors and its 'saviour', the Renault–Nissan alliance.
On Tuesday, Nissan bought a controlling 34% stake in Mitsubishi and inevitably, the 237 billion-yen ($2.29 billion) transaction saw a couple of changes at the top.
Carlos Ghosn was appointed as chairman, but according to Automotive News, mister Ghosn asked Osamu Masuko – current Mitsubishi chairman and president – to keep his position within Mitsubishi.
"The combination of Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Renault will create a new force in global car-making. It will be one of the world’s three largest automotive groups, with the economies of scale, breakthrough technologies and manufacturing capabilities to produce vehicles to serve customer demand in every market segment and in every geographic market around the world."
On the financial side, Carlos Ghosn predicts that through the partnership with Mitsubishi, Nissan is looking at savings of "24 billion yen (roughly $231 million) in fiscal year 2017, rising to 60 billion yen (around $578 million) in fiscal year 2018 and beyond."
The deal comes as a fresh air both reputation-wise and financially speaking for Mitsubishi, after the Japanese carmaker admitted to cheating in fuel economy tests involving 624,000 minicars, out of which two-thirds were sold under the Nissan badge in Japan.