Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi Motors sign MOU on strategic partnership

2 August 2024, 12:09:29

Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi Motors have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly discuss a framework for further intelligence and electrification of automobiles based on the agreement signed by Nissan and Honda on March 15.

Nissan and Honda are working to further accelerate initiatives aimed at achieving carbon neutrality and a zero-traffic-accident society. In anticipation of collaboration in areas such as environmental technologies, electrification technologies, and software development, discussions are being conducted on a broad scope.

To accelerate this process, it is essential to create new value by integrating the technologies and knowledge cultivated by each company, and to improve business efficiencies. The participation of Mitsubishi Motors in the areas of potential collaboration considered and discussed by Nissan and Honda will not only add new knowledge and strengths but will also provide further synergies that can only be generated by the three companies, as well as new business opportunities.

Furthermore, Nissan and Honda agreed to joint research in fundamental technologies for next-generation software-defined vehicles (SDVs). The two companies also believe that the software field, including autonomous driving, connectivity, and AI, which will determine the value of vehicles in the future and become a source of competitiveness, is an area where technological innovation is extremely rapid and where synergies can easily be obtained through the fusion of resources from both companies, such as technological knowledge and human resources. The two company’s newly signed MOU is aimed to deepen the strategic partnership to define more specific areas of cooperation and accelerate the realization of the strategic partnership.

The next-generation SDV platform is the cornerstone of the field of intelligence. The two companies have agreed to conduct joint research on fundamental technologies and have begun research. Nissan and Honda aim to complete basic research in approximately one year and based on the results consider the possibility of mass production development.

Batteries are key components of EVs, and the two companies will consider the scope of cooperation from a short-term and medium- to long-term perspective. This includes sharing specifications and mutual supply. Bringing together the battery technologies and assets of both companies will enable offering a wide range of battery options, from high-output to low-cost models, as well as cost reduction effects through investment diversification and risk-hedging, and deliver the advantage of volume.

The two companies have reached a basic agreement to commonize the specifications of their battery cell modules for EVs from a medium- to long-term perspective, to enable the batteries they plan to procure to be usable in vehicles from both companies. Honda and Nissan will study the supply of lithium-ion batteries for EVs manufactured by L-H Battery Company, Inc., a joint venture between Honda and LG Energy Solution, to Nissan in North America after 2028.

The two companies have reached a basic agreement to commonize the specifications of their respective e-Axles, over the medium to long term, to be used in the next-generation EVs of both companies. The agreed first step is to share motors and inverters, the core of the e-Axle.

With the models to be sold globally by Nissan and Honda, the two companies will consider supplementing models from a short-term to medium- to long-term perspective. For the short-term, Nissan and Honda reached a basic agreement on models and regions to be complemented by each company, and also agreed on the outline of a product review system to be jointly operated by both companies. ICE and EVs are being considered as vehicles for mutual complementation.

The two companies also agreed to study the possibility of cooperation in the areas of energy services and resource circulation in Japan, including charging, energy equipment, energy services utilizing batteries, and charging services.

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