Mitsubishi plans to stop developing car platforms for Japan in 2026

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation plans to cease the development of car platforms for its home market, Japan. As reported by the news site, Nikkei, the car manufacturer shall instead utilize vehicle bases made by ally Nissan Motor beginning around 2026.

This plan shows just how difficult it is for the Japanese automaker to produce their own platform independently. This is because of the high research and development (R&D) cost which falls at around hundreds of millions of dollars, or about half the development cost of a new car.

As per the source, Mitsubishi aims to shift its research and development investment focusing on electric vehicles and other technologies. Notably, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation will be the first car brand in Japan to terminate the development of platforms used for passenger cars. 

From having eight platforms last March, the Japanese automaker is looking into reducing that to four. Mitsubishi expects to develop two platforms independently for Southeast Asia, which happens to be its core market. While the remaining two will be co-developed with Nissan. Currently, both Japanese automakers were sharing 40% of their platforms as of 2019, now, Mitsubishi and Nissan are looking into working more closely together in the years to come.

Over the past two fiscal years, the car brand has suffered losses, plus, it also stopped the production of unprofitable models such as the Pajero which was discontinued last earlier this year. In terms of the R&D budget, the company reserved $900,000,000 for the fiscal year ending March 2022 which is less than its record-high amount for fiscal 2019. 

As mentioned, Mitsubishi’s plan will push through at around 2026. For this reason, several models often share the same platform. Regardless, the Japanese automaker will still continue developing interiors, exteriors, as well as drive devices. This should allow the brand to recover from its suffered losses and work more closely with its Japanese ally.