Nissan could ditch the Navara in favour of a Mitsubishi-led dual-cab ute… what would that mean for Renault and Mercedes-Benz?

ACCORDING TO REUTERS, Nissan, which now owns Mitsubishi, is now exploring the idea of joint vehicle production in South-East Asia, and that Mitsubishi could lead the development of a 4×4 ute to replace both the Triton and Nissan Navara.

In an interview with new chief operating officer, Trevor Mann, who was the former performance boss at Nissan, Mitsubishi’s ute architecture is likely to become the basis of all alliance models going forward. But whether Mann means that all 4×4 utes being offered by Nissan and Mitsubishi, Renault (with the Alaskan) and now Mercedes-Benz (with the X-Class) will all be the same base vehicle remains to be seen.

The interview with Reuters seems to suggest the vehicle sharing will centre on vehicles being produced in Thailand, and that would mean vehicles sold in Australia would end up being the same base vehicle across both Nissan and Mitsubishi. As for the rest of the world, it’s not clear from the interview.

“If you look at our cost performance in that region, we are the benchmark within the alliance,” Mann told Reuters. “Our four-by-four technology, our cost base on pickups is better than Nissan’s.”

Mann suggested that, going forward, Mitsubishi could end up focussing on the production of utes for Nissan and Mitsubishi out of its factory, while Nissan, in this region, at least, concentrates on building ‘cars’ for both brands from its factory in Thailand. Although, he did stress that nothing had been decided…

With both the current Triton and Navara released in 2014, replacements aren’t due until 2022, so there’s still time for Nissan-Mitsubishi to work out exactly what it wants to do.

Question: From a business standpoint, it makes sense for Nissan-Mitsubishi to share platforms but, as a buyer, do you think it’s a good idea?