Mitsubishi is going to end production of its joint venture cars in China and will transfer its stake in the company to Guangzhou Automobile Group.
The Japanese car manufacturer established the joint venture in 2012 but will now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC. The joint venture had built models including the ASX, Outlander, Pajero, Eclipse Cross, Eupheme, and Airtek EV but the plant will now be responsible for building vehicles from GAC’s Aion brand starting in June 2024. GAC says the change will provide Aion with the capacity to build up to 600,000 cars annually.
Reuters understands that Mitsubishi will book a special loss of 24.3 billion yen ($162.4) million in the current financial year by restructuring its Chinese business.
Read: Struggling Mitsubishi Chased Out Of China By Local Brands
Soon after making this announcement, Mitsubishi revealed that it would invest up to €200 million ($213 million) in Renault’s newly established electric vehicle venture Ampere. The carmaker will buy various EVs developed and produced by Ampere and sell them under its own brand in a move that will allow it to keep its development costs low.
Nikkei Asia reports that new EVs from Mitsubishi will be sold in Europe and Southeast Asia. Additionally, Mitsubishi will be able to obtain important information about trends in major EV markets that will help it move forward. Renault’s alliance partner Nissan has already committed to investing more than €600 million ($641 million) in Ampere and a substantial investment is also being made by chipmaker Qualcomm.
While speaking with media members at an event in Paris, Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said he welcomed the investment from Mitsubishi and will discuss the partnership in more detail during a future trip to Japan.
