Longtime allies of Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have declared their intention to invest in Ampere, the French automaker's electric vehicle division, and use it to develop EVs for the European market.
The news on Wednesday confirms that the three automakers have formed a new, smaller, more practical alliance that will concentrate on regional cooperation after years of tense partnerships.
Nissan and Mitsubishi said that they would contribute up to 600 million euros ($647.46 million) and 200 million euros, respectively, to Ampere. Ampere is set to go public next year after being split out from the rest of Renault.
According to Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, the Japanese automaker may use the EV unit's software and connectivity innovations in markets outside of Europe. Nissan will become a calculated investor in Ampere.
He claimed that it would be extremely difficult to develop electric automobiles on a global scale. For the European market, Ampere will design and produce an electric version of the small Nissan Micra, and for Mitsubishi, it will produce an electric medium-sized SUV.
Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault, stated that Ampere will reduce the price of the Micra for Nissan by 50%. The alliance partners reaffirmed their collaboration on initiatives in India and Latin America.
With the intention of focusing on individual projects and responding more swiftly to regional variations in the automotive markets, Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi terminated their common purchasing agreement in September.
Following months of negotiations, Renault and Nissan finally agreed on the conditions of a reorganized alliance at the end of July. Negotiations took longer than anticipated, partly because Nissan was worried about securing its intellectual property in any more joint ventures.
