Ghosn Bets on Mitsubishi to Bolster Alliance Sales in SE Asia

Carlos Ghosn, who chairs the Renault-Nissan alliance, is counting on Mitsubishi Motors, the group’s newest member, to bolster sales in southeast Asia, The Nikkei says.

Nissan Motor Co. alone delivers five times as many vehicles per year as Mitsubishi Motors Corp. But in southeast Asia, where Nissan has struggled for years, the two are almost equal in sales volume.

It isn’t for lack of effort. The 6-year strategy Nissan unveiled in 2011 aimed to hike the company’s share in the region to 15% from 6%. The company relaunched Datsun as its low-price brand in the region in 2014 to help bolster sales. Nissan also opened a new factory in Thailand to build its Navara pickup truck.

 But The Nikkei says Nissan’s market share across southeast Asia has stalled at about 5%—several points below MMC’s share. Analysts say Ghosn aims to increase Nissan-Mitsubishi’s combined share in southeast Asia to about 20%.

Thailand, home of MMC’s largest factory in the region, will lead the effort. The plant in Chon Buri Province has annual capacity to make 420,000 vehicles, and it exports more than 80% of its output. But the facility is operating at only 84% of capacity, according to the newspaper.

Ghosn also hopes to improve the performance of both Nissan and MMC by commonizing more parts between the two companies, integrating procurement operations, combining logistics for moving vehicles from factories to dealerships and sourcing more Nissan components locally. In Thailand, the newspaper notes, Nissan’s pickup trucks have only 60% local content compared with 80% for MMC’s trucks.