Mitsubishi Motors established the joint venture in 2012, but it will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of GAC. The joint venture had built models including the ASX, Outlander, Pajero, Eclipse Cross, Eupheme and Airtek EV, but the plant will now be responsible for building vehicles under GAC's Aion brand from June 2024. GAC says the change will give Aion the capacity to build up to 600,000 cars a year.
According to Reuters, Mitsubishi will book a special loss of 24.3 billion yen ($162.4 million) in the current fiscal year due to the restructuring of its Chinese business.
Shortly after that announcement, Mitsubishi announced that it would invest up to €200 million ($213 million) in Renault's newly formed electric vehicle company, Ampere. The automaker will buy various EVs developed and produced by Ampere and sell them under its own brand, allowing it to keep development costs low.
Nikkei Asia reports that Mitsubishi's new EVs will be sold in Europe and Southeast Asia. In addition, Mitsubishi will be able to gain important information about trends in key EV markets that will help it move forward.
Renault's alliance partner Nissan has already committed to investing more than €600 million ($641 million) in Ampere, and chipmaker Qualcomm is also making a significant investment.
Speaking to members of the media at an event in Paris, Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said he welcomed Mitsubishi's investment and would discuss the partnership in more detail during a future trip to Japan.
Sources: Reuters, Nikkei Asia
