Mitsubishi to make an all-new van sharing platform with Renault Trafic

MANILA: The successful and advantageous tri-alliance of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi might help us to witness more production of people carriers and vans in future. The Japanese multinational auto company, Mitsubishi, is already planning to develop and design a van that might bear a slight resemblance with the Hyundai Grand Starex and similar vehicles in the melange. The Mitsubishi van is supposed to be geared towards the New Zealand and Australian auto-market.

The not-yet-named van will be designed in Sandouville, Renault van manufacturing factory in France. Alongside, the Renault Trafic is currently being developed and there is a speculation that the underpinning of the van and that of the Trafic will be the same.

Besides Sandouville, the Maubeuge van-producing plant of Renault in France also enjoys a distinguished reputation as the most efficient factory in the country. This is the manufacturing hub for the next-gen Renault Kangoo family, including the electric versions of the people carriers. This plant at Maubeuge will soon begin the production of a new Nissan NV250 delivery van based on its own Kangoo model architecture. It is reported that the Groupe Renault is making a handsome investment of around EUR 450 million in the Kangoo production plant over five years.

These are believed to be yet another attempt of the tri-alliance members (Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors) to give a boost to their collaboration on common production facilities and common platforms. As per the statements made by Carlos Ghosn, the Tri-Alliance CEO and Chairman, the boost given in van manufacturing is a part of the Alliance 2022 scheme to double their yearly synergies to around EUR 10 billion.

Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors is the world's longest-lasting and the largest automotive partnership. The Sandouville plant and the Maubeuge plant are known to offer the most advantageous solutions owing to their high competency and their abilities to maximize the usage of Alliance common platforms. Great expectations are there from this collaboration in the auto industry globally.