Nissan and Mitsubishi come together on finance and parts distribution in Australia
Nissan and Mitsubishi combine with both consumer financial services and parts warehousing and distribution in Australia
NISSAN TOOK A CONTROLLING stake in Mitsubishi Motors in October last year which saw the car makers become the third member of the Nissan and Renault alliance. It’s expected the alliance will see all three brands begin to platform share going forward, with rumour that Nissan will use Mitsubishi’s engineering team to co-develop the next Triton and Navara platform, which will also appear under the Renault Alaskan and Mercedes-Benz X-Class.
Locally, the two brands have moved closer together with the announcement today that Nissan and Mitsubishi would join forces with the creation of a new branded financial services offering for Mitsubishi, powered Nissan Financial Services Australia.
In a statement, the two brands said: “This latest development will see Nissan Financial Services Australia, under a separate and newly-created Mitsubishi Motors Financial Services banner, take responsibility for the provision of wholesale and retail financial services and products for participating Mitsubishi dealerships across Australia. The new services will be available from tomorrow, June 6”.
Peter Jones, Managing Director of Nissan Financial Services Australia, said: “This is one of the first major milestones of our new alliance with Mitsubishi,” he said. “Outside of our planned collaborations on technology sharing, common vehicle platforms, and joint plant utilisation, today’s announcement is among the first major non-manufacturing-related developments in the new global alliance between Mitsubishi and Nissan.”
Mitsubishi Motors Australia CEO, Mutsuhiro Oshikiri, said: “This will bring benefits to our participating Mitsubishi Motors Australia dealers and our customers through the provision of competitive branded finance offering,” said Mr Oshikiri.
Beyond financial services, the two brand are also coming together with the establishment of a shared parts and accessories “warehousing and logistics operation in Australia”.
“This new Australia-based initiative will see both automotive companies share warehousing space and logistics support for the national distribution of each brand’s parts and accessories. This operation, to be based at an all-new warehouse facility in the Melbourne suburb of Truganina, will deliver various benefits to both companies due to its greater economies of scale,” Nissan said in a statement.
“This is a milestone development in Nissan’s new alliance with Mitsubishi,” said Richard Emery, Managing Director and CEO of Nissan Australia. “This collaboration has opened the door to many important synergies, including the sharing of parts storage, distribution and logistics here in Australia. This is an important investment with many benefits for our respective customers and dealers.”
Mutsuhiro Oshikiri, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Australia, said: “We are pleased it will assist us to achieve greater efficiency through cooperation with our local alliance partner, Nissan Australia, to deliver a better service to our respective customers,” said Mr Oshikiri.
