Mitsubishi will decide on investing in Renault’s electric-vehicle unit Ampere by the end of this year at the earliest, CEO Takao Kato said after the company’s quarterly earnings.
The Japanese carmaker, which logged a 24% jump in net income from the same quarter last year, is part of an alliance with Renault and Nissan. The companies have agreed to equalise their cross-shareholdings and co-operate on projects, and Nissan has already indicated it plans to take a stake of up to 15% in Ampere. Mitsubishi previously said it would consider investing.
“It is quite difficult for a single company to do everything on its own,” Kato said during Monday’s news conference. “It will be extremely meaningful to use Ampere, which will initially launch mainly in Europe.”
Kato said Mitsubishi will make a final decision before Ampere goes public.
Renault has pushed back the timing for an Ampere initial public offering to what will likely be the first half of 2024. The French carmaker plans to reorganise into separate entities so that its legacy combustion-engine vehicle business and EV enterprise can operate more independently.
“Given that Nissan is our major shareholder, we would like to consider this matter after observing the progress of discussions between Nissan and Renault,” Kato said. Nissan took a 34% stake in Mitsubishi seven years ago, bringing it into the alliance.
Kato said he had “no idea” when Mitsubishi could restart operations in China, where sales have been slow. No agreement has been reached on structural reforms with local partner GAG, he said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Mitsubishi eyes Renault EV investment by year-end
Image: Bloomberg
Mitsubishi will decide on investing in Renault’s electric-vehicle unit Ampere by the end of this year at the earliest, CEO Takao Kato said after the company’s quarterly earnings.
The Japanese carmaker, which logged a 24% jump in net income from the same quarter last year, is part of an alliance with Renault and Nissan. The companies have agreed to equalise their cross-shareholdings and co-operate on projects, and Nissan has already indicated it plans to take a stake of up to 15% in Ampere. Mitsubishi previously said it would consider investing.
“It is quite difficult for a single company to do everything on its own,” Kato said during Monday’s news conference. “It will be extremely meaningful to use Ampere, which will initially launch mainly in Europe.”
Kato said Mitsubishi will make a final decision before Ampere goes public.
Renault has pushed back the timing for an Ampere initial public offering to what will likely be the first half of 2024. The French carmaker plans to reorganise into separate entities so that its legacy combustion-engine vehicle business and EV enterprise can operate more independently.
“Given that Nissan is our major shareholder, we would like to consider this matter after observing the progress of discussions between Nissan and Renault,” Kato said. Nissan took a 34% stake in Mitsubishi seven years ago, bringing it into the alliance.
Kato said he had “no idea” when Mitsubishi could restart operations in China, where sales have been slow. No agreement has been reached on structural reforms with local partner GAG, he said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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