The joint venture between Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, NMKV Co., Ltd., has marked ten years since its founding.
Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors established NMKV on June 1, 2011 as a 50/50 joint venture engaged in product planning and project management for mini-vehicles sold in the Japan market. NMKV, with the combined strengths of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors in fields such as product planning and development, design, and purchasing, aims to consistently deliver competitive products to customers.
As of May this year, combined sales of vehicles produced under the joint venture have reached a cumulative total of 1.52 million units.
Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors collaborate closely from the product planning stage while pursuing distinct designs that embody the two brands. This results in models with a high level of competitiveness that fuse the know-how and advanced technologies of the two companies. Models from both brands have earned high acclaim, with many winning prestigious awards. The latest Nissan ROOX and Mitsubishi eK space and eK X space were awarded “K Car of the Year” in the 2020-2021 Car of the Year Japan awards.
Mitsubishi Motors’ Mizushima Plant has made an investment of around eight billion yen, which is the first collaboration between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors toward starting production of new electric mini-vehicles, and NMKV is working with both companies to promote this project. Going forward, NMKV will continue to contribute to strengthening the domestic competitiveness of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors through the planning of new and attractive products and project management.
Commenting on NMKV’s 10 years of operations, Nissan President Makoto Uchida said, “The mini-vehicles planned and developed through NMKV have evolved greatly over the past 10 years. The latest models from Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors feature many Nissan advanced technologies and are designed to make customers’ lives more comfortable and exciting. We will continue to adopt electrification and autonomous driving technologies to further strengthen the appeal of our products, and we will significantly advance our business collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors.”
Mitsubishi Motors President Takao Kato said, “The latest model in the eK series, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is a reliable, comfortable mini-wagon that combines Mitsubishi Motors’ 60 years of expertise in mini-vehicle manufacturing with Nissan’s advanced technologies under the project management of NMKV. Going forward, we will continue to strengthen cooperation with Nissan and NMKV to provide products that delight our customers.”
NMKV President Junichi Endo said, “NMKV is combining the best of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors to create appealing vehicles for Japan’s national car, the mini-vehicle. Going forward, the three companies will continue to strengthen the source of their strength, Japanese manufacturing capabilities, and cross-company and cross-functional collaboration to promote even better vehicle manufacturing through the teamwork of the Alliance.”
About Mitsubishi Motors
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (TSE:7211), MMC–a member of the Alliance with Renault and Nissan–, is a global automobile company based in Tokyo, Japan, which has more than 30,000 employees and a global footprint with production facilities in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, mainland China, the Philippines, Viet Nam and Russia. MMC has a competitive edge in SUVs, pickup trucks and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and appeals to ambitious drivers willing to challenge convention and embrace innovation. Since the production of our first vehicle more than a century ago, MMC has been a leader in electrification–launched the i-MiEV – the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle in 2009, followed by the Outlander PHEV – the world’s first plug-in hybrid electric SUV in 2013. MMC announced a three-year business plan in July 2020 to introduce more competitive and cutting-edge models, including the Eclipse Cross PHEV (PHEV model), the all-new Outlander and the all-new Triton/L200.
For more information on MMC, please visit the company’s website.