Could Nissan save Mitsubishi? Nissan to buy a controlling stake

Nissan is in talks with Mitsubishi to buy a 34 percent controlling stake in automaker.

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Mitsubishi’s future has been unclear for years, especially in the U.S. where its lineup continues to shrink. Now the automaker’s fate has gotten even worse, following its latest emissions scandal, which involved cheating on fuel economy tests. But there’s hope, since it’s being reported that Nissan is in talks with Mitsubishi to buy a 34 percent controlling stake in automaker.
Both automakers are in talks this week to discuss a possible tie-up. Both Nissan and Mitsubishi are keeping the details under wraps, but according to Bloomberg, Nissan will pay $2.2 billion to take over Mitsubishi. If Nissan does in fact buy a controlling stake in Mitsubishi, it’s the latest twist in the scandal, in which Mitsubishi admitted to overstating the fuel economy of four of its models sold in Japan, including two which are sold with a Nissan badge. Mitsubishi started cheating the fuel economy tests in 1991 and now it effects 600k vehicles.

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Why is Nissan going to buy a stake in Mitsubishi? Nissan needs to preserve its Mitsubishi supplied minicar lineup, since the segment accounts for 40 percent of all vehicle sales in Japan.

Source: Bloomberg