As Mitsubishi Motors marks 10 years under Nissan Motor's ownership on October 20th, the company is shifting from restructuring to growth, focusing on vehicles that reflect its established product specialisations.

Until the 2010s, the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, in western Japan, was a major Mitsubishi Motors production facility, manufacturing vehicles such as the Lancer Evolution sports car. Today, kei cars account for 80% of its output, including Nissan-branded models, reflecting the companies' production cooperation.

Nissan announced in May 2016 that it would invest in Mitsubishi Motors for a 34% stake, becoming its largest shareholder. "The combination of Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Renault will be one of the world's three largest automotive groups," then-Nissan President Carlos Ghosn said, referring to the French automaker with which Nissan also has an alliance.

Cooperation between the two companies had begun earlier, with a joint kei-car development programme launched in 2011. They continue to work together in this segment, with Nissan designing and developing key components, including platforms and engines, while Mitsubishi Motors manufactures the vehicles under contract at Mizushima.

Mitsubishi Motors' product line-up spans kei cars and commercial vehicles, but its research and development expenditure in fiscal 2025 was approximately JPY 110 billion (US$ 695.4 million), below that of rivals with similar sales volumes, including Mazda Motor and Subaru.

The company has used its partnership with Nissan to share investment costs in areas requiring substantial expenditure, such as kei cars and driver-assistance systems, while directing its own development budget towards four-wheel-drive technology. "The biggest benefit of receiving the investment was being able to utilize cooperation with Nissan in areas where it provided clear advantages," a Mitsubishi Motors executive said.

However, not all the anticipated benefits have materialised. "Nissan parts were overengineered in terms of quality, so the cost benefits of parts sharing were limited," another executive said. Mitsubishi Motors primarily operates in emerging economies, including Southeast Asia, where components developed mainly for Nissan's operations in developed markets such as North America and Europe were often too expensive for widespread adoption.

Mitsubishi Motors has consequently increased the number of models developed independently of Nissan. The next-generation Outlander SUV, scheduled for launch around 2028, will use an in-house-developed platform. The current collaboration has involved sharing most major components, including the platform, with a Nissan model, but Mitsubishi Motors concluded that independent development of the next generation would be more profitable.

The expansion strategy pursued under Ghosn also failed to deliver sustained growth. Mitsubishi Motors' rapid expansion created challenges that became apparent during the coronavirus pandemic and amid other difficulties. Heavy discounting reduced the brand's value, prompting restructuring measures, including domestic factory closures and withdrawal from the Chinese market.

Lower development expenditure and reduced fixed costs helped the company record a fifth consecutive year of consolidated net profit in the financial year ended March 2026. However, it faces the challenge of achieving further growth while sales volumes decline.

In its medium-to-long-term vision announced in May, Mitsubishi Motors set a target of increasing its operating margin to 4.5% in the financial year ending March 2030, up 1.9 percentage points from the previous financial year. "Strengthening the brand through distinctive products will be the cornerstone of our growth," President Keisuke Kishiura said.

The new Pajero SUV is part of this strategy and is scheduled to return to the Japanese market in December. At a launch event in September, Kishiura said that "it will serve as the flagship model that drives the Mitsubishi Motors brand." The starting price is expected to be JPY 6.19 million, compared with JPY 4.53 million for the previous model launched in 2019.

The company's domestic sales head said that customers were switching from domestic rivals and imported vehicles by prioritising toughness and quality over price. Mitsubishi Motors has developed four-wheel-drive systems and vehicles for demanding driving conditions, including through its participation in long-distance rallies. As it updates its core line-up, the company has increased prices while continuing to offer off-road capabilities.

The Outlander and Delica D:5 minivan are both priced above competing models, while Mitsubishi Motors' average selling price per vehicle has increased by approximately 70% over the past decade. However, some dealers have raised concerns about affordability. "Vehicle prices have risen so rapidly that more customers in rural areas can no longer afford to pay in cash even if they wanted to," one dealer said. Retaining first-time buyers remains a challenge for the automaker.

To address this issue, Mitsubishi Motors is expanding its used-car business. Previously, individual dealerships purchased and resold trade-in vehicles, some of which were subsequently sold at auctions for relatively low prices. Under the revised approach, headquarters will manage the process centrally and sell used vehicles that meet its quality requirements through its own channels. Maintaining higher trade-in values could help reduce customers' effective ownership costs as new-car prices rise.

Following Nissan's investment, Mitsubishi Motors' strategy often aligned with that of its largest shareholder. However, Nissan's deteriorating financial position has reduced its capacity to provide support.

At Mitsubishi Motors' annual shareholders' meeting in June, shareholders approved the appointment of a chairman and a president from within the company for the first time since Nissan's investment. The relationship is gradually shifting away from a parent-subsidiary structure towards a less integrated arrangement in which both companies pursue their own business strategies.