TOKYO (AP) – Nissan Motor Co. is taking a 34 percent stake in scandal-ridden Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in what Nissan Chief Carlos Ghosn said is “a win-win” deal intended to repeat the success of his Nissan-Renault alliance.
Ghosn appeared with Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Osamu Masuko in a hastily called joint conference Thursday in Yokohama, where Nissan is headquartered. Ghosn said Nissan will invest 237 billion yen ($2.2 billion) to become the top investor in Mitsubishi Motors.
Mitsubishi group companies – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, trading company Mitsubishi Corp. and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ – will continue to hold stakes in the automaker, but they have agreed to support the alliance with Nissan, both sides said.
Mitsubishi Motors has been recently rocked by a scandal over cheating on mileage tests to inflate mileage for minicar models. And reporters peppered Ghosn with questions on whether he was worried that the scandal may grow.
“This is a breakthrough transaction and a win-win for both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. It creates a dynamic new force in the automotive industry that will cooperate intensively and generate sizeable synergies,” said Ghosn, the Brazilian-born Frenchman who engineered Nissan’s alliance with Renault, which began in 1999.