Mitsubishi to get luxury sedan based on the Nissan Fuga in Japan

Mitsubishi and Nissan continue to collaborate and form joint ventures, with the latest being a plan for Mitsubishi to sell a version of our Infiniti M sedan in the Japanese domestic market.

Mitsubishi will get a new flagship luxury sedan in the domestic Japanese market that will be based on the Nissan Fuga, which is the same as the Infiniti M sedan here in the United States. The agreement was announced on September 22nd, and as part of the agreement, Nissan will get a version of Mitsubishi's Minicab-MiEV 100% electric commercial minivan. This is a part of a much larger collaboration between the two manufacturers, which included an agreement to share technology on Japan-only minicars.

Mitsubishi phased out the front-wheel-drive Diamante in 2004, so the Fuga-based sedan will be Mitsubishi's first luxury sedan since then. The Diamante sold over 25,000 units in 1993, but as the platform aged, sales dropped to under 10,000 during the last year of production. With Mitsubishi's sales in the United States at an all-time low, luxury sedan development has not been a high priority. President Osamu Masuko said that Mitsubishi will not be using the Fuga-based luxury sedan to expand its US lineup either.

Sales of the Mitsubishi Fuga will start next summer, although the name of the model and the price have yet to be announced.

Source: Automotive News