Mitsubishi And Renault To Build Electric Cars On Nissan Leaf Platform

The brands are targeting EV prices that can compete with traditional petrol/diesel-powered cars

Back in May this year, Nissan bought a 34 per cent stake in Mitsubishi Motors. Through its controlling stake, the Japanese automaker has been looking at a complete change in the product strategies of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi – including electric cars! Now, the three brands will produce cars based on the Nissan Leaf’s platform to enable quicker development and to cut costs.

As per the report by Nikkei, the strategy is aimed at reducing developmental costs by around 20 per cent and enabling more competitive prices for EVs. With emission regulations getting increasingly stringent, electric cars have become the need of the hour. By sharing a modular platform across brands, the Renault-Nissan alliance will redouble its efforts to get the prices of electric cars down to a level comparable with fossil fuel powered vehicles.

As part of its EV range, Nissan introduced the Leaf hatchback in 2010, while Renault introduced the Zoe in 2012. In fact, the latter was showcased at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo, though it hasn’t featured on Renault India’s launch plans. However, both brands developed their cars independently, which, of course, increased the prices of the final products.

To make the process more economical, apart from sharing the underpinnings of their products, the companies also plan to share core parts such as the batteries, motors and inverters. Why? Since the brands stand to lower costs by making joint purchases from shared component suppliers.