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Mitsubishi Deal with Nissan Delayed

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Mitsubishi Nissan

Mitsubishi is in a lot of hot water right now, since the brand lied to Asian consumers for decades about the fuel economy of its vehicles. When the scandal broke in May, Nissan announced that it would purchase a large stake in the company to help it recover. At the time, Nissan also said that it really wanted to have the deal closed by the end of that month. We’re now four months past that deadline, and Nissan has set a new one, saying it hopes to close the deal by the end of 2016. What’s going on?

When the deal was declared by both companies, Nissan said that it was launching its own investigation into Mitsubishi. The automaker wanted to be sure that all of the Mitsubishi scandals had come to light to protect the Nissan name from any guilt by association. A team of investigators was tasked with going through company files and processes, but we have not yet heard of their findings.

Besides Nissan’s investigating, the Japanese government is leading the official investigation into Mitsubishi and its employees to discover all the facts about the current scandal to determine what laws were broken (and by whom). CarScoops reported earlier this month that Mitsubishi was facing a probable fourth raid by Japan’s transport ministry, either because it needs more information on the initial investigation, or because it has uncovered a new scandal to look into. Either way, the dark cloud over Mitsubishi will remain until the investigation is concluded.

If the sale goes forward, and Nissan brings Mitsubishi into the fold of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, it’s possible the company can be saved. We’ll wait with Nissan, though, and see how this all plays out.

News Source: CarScoops