- Mitsubishi plans a 2027 Outlander redesign on a new, in-house platform instead of Nissan’s.
- The decision signals Mitsubishi distancing itself from Nissan amidst growing alliance struggles.
- Outlander sales continue to struggle in the US, prompting Mitsubishi to pursue a redesign.
Nissan’s apparent woes with its finances is not the only bad thing that’s brewing within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Just weeks after Honda and Nissan announced they were aborting their plan to merge, a new report suggests that Mitsubishi doesn’t want the next Outlander to share a platform with Nissan.
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The current-generation Mitsubishi Outlander shares its bones with the Nissan Rogue, which in turn rides on a Renault-Nissan platform known as the Common Module Family. When it was first announced that Outlander would be built on the CMF platform, execs touted it as Mitsubishi leveraging the benefits of the alliance while maintaining the brand’s unique identity.
See: Mitsubishi’s Dealers Plead With Company As Sales Stall
However, after just one generation, it looks like all the sharing comes to an end. Auto News reports that Mitsubishi is looking at using a modified in-house platform for the next Outlander. While the company declined to comment, the report comes months after Nissan sold part of its stake back to Mitsubishi in November in a bid to improve its balance sheet.
What Next For Mitsubishi?
In the US, Mitsubishi has been dogged by lackluster sales, and dealers getting increasingly frustrated with the company’s apparent lack of action. Rising costs, an aging lineup, and killing off one of the company’s most popular offerings in the Mirage, have made life difficult for those representing the brand.
While the Outlander underwent a mild refresh, Mitsubishi is keen to expand the nameplate ahead of a complete redesign sometime in 2027. A mild hybrid variant is expected to join the ICE and PHEV versions in the US, while a more adventure-oriented model dubbed the “Outlander Trail Edition” is slated to come to market later this year.
But it appears that The Three Diamonds are looking at distancing themselves from Nissan. Recently, after failing to find a suiter at Honda, Nissan’s CEO declared that the company’s survival was hanging in the balance. Rumors continue to swirl about the brand’s future, with a tie-up with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn seen as the next possible option for the ailing company.
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