TOKYO – Mitsubishi Motors Corp is planning hybrid and battery electric vehicles for all new car sales by the middle of the next decade, bolstering its electrification strategy to remain competitive in key markets.
Mitsubishi, which is also a junior partner in the alliance with France’s Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co, said it would introduce 16 new models over the next five years.
The Japanese automaker, best known for its Outlander sport utility vehicle, is sticking to its previous target of electrifying half of its new car sales by fiscal 2030 and on Friday pledged to increase that to 100% by fiscal 2035.
Mitsubishi considers plug-in hybrid (PHEV), hybrid electric vehicle and battery electric vehicle (BEV) to be electrified vehicles. Electrified vehicles are expected to account for about 7% of the company’s total new car sales in FY2021.
“Among our existing models, we will expand the geographic areas where our flagship PHEV Outlander is offered and build sales of the minicab-MIEV light commercial EV,” said Chief Executive Takao Kato. was launched from.
Of the 16 new models Mitsubishi plans to roll out, one BEV will be a Renault alliance model, while the other will be a Nissan alliance model, Mitsubishi said in presentation material that is part of its business plan for fiscal years 2023-2025. Was.
Mitsubishi, an early mover in EVs in the early 2010s, currently has no BEVs in its line-up in Europe. Its new BEV for Europe will mark a comeback in a highly competitive market where new entrants like Tesla have already quickly gained market share.
The model could be a variant of the Renault electric MPV Scenic made in France and expected in 2024, or a variant of the Renault electric city cars R5 or R4 expected in 2024 and 2025 respectively and also built in France is, said a source close to the matter.
Mitsubishi Europe declined to comment on the matter.
Of the other 14 models Mitsubishi plans to launch, seven will be fully combustion engine powered, five will be hybrids and the remaining two will be BEVs, the company said.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Gilles Guillaume; Additional reporting by Elaine Laise; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Shaunak Dasgupta and Christina Fincher)
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