Gts Nav Cd Alloy Wheels Anti-lock Brakes Climate Control Cruise Control on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Self-driving Mitsubishis could use adapted missile technology

Mitsubishi is a big company made up of many different divisions and subsidiaries. Yeah, we tend to focus on Mitsubishi Motors, but the sprawling company also manufactures steel, builds televisions – we all knew someone in the 1990s with a hulking Mitsubishi "big screen" – and even screws together fighter jets and the missiles they carry. According to a report from Automotive News Europe, Mitsubishi Motors is hoping to leverage the capabilities of its sister companies to catch up to the competition and get driverless cars on the road by 2020. That means adapting millimeter-wave radars, sensors, and cameras built for missiles to automotive uses. As Mitsubishi sees it, having the development work done on this tech – albeit for a radically different application – gives it a big advantage over the competition. "All we have to do is to put together the components that we already have," Katsumi Adachi, the chief engineer for Mitsu's auto equipment division, told ANE. "None of our competitors have such a wide array of capabilities." As ANE goes on to explain with the help of Tokyo-based IHS analyst Goro Tanamachi, this is no plug-and-play application. That's largely because of the different economics of the automotive and defense industries. In the former, the bean counters have a tremendous say. There are cuts and cost reductions and all sorts of other stuff designed to maximize profit margins. The defense industry, though, is the land of sparing no expense – that, according to Tanamachi-san, could make adapting missile tech to autonomous vehicles a possible, but potentially very pricey proposition. "Cost-cutting requests are much more severe in autos than aerospace," Tanamachi-san told ANE. "I wonder if it's possible for them to bring down the cost of the systems to the levels manufacturers can use for cheap, low-end cars." Related Video: X

Mitsubishi reportedly plans to spend billions to get back in the game

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors reportedly plans to inject more than 600 billion yen ($5.35 billion) in capital spending and research and development over the next three years through fiscal 2019 in a bid to turn around its business after recent scandals. The Nikkei newspaper said the new plan calls for spending 5 percent of annual sales on equipment and the same proportion on R&D. Funds will be used by the company for the development of electrified vehicles such as the new e-Evolution concept and for production in China and Indonesia. Mitsubishi Motors will release the specifics of the new medium-term plan on Wednesday, the business daily said. ($1 = 112.1600 yen) Reporting by Sumeet Gaikwad Related Video: Image Credit: Reuters Earnings/Financials Green Plants/Manufacturing Mitsubishi Technology Emerging Technologies Electric research and development nikkei

Nissan's purchase of Mitsubishi is officially official

After the company's announcement in May, the Nissan's purchase of a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi is now official. The deal cost Nissan $2.3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, and brings Mitsubishi into the Nissan-Renault Alliance. The company explained that this new partnership will manifest itself in shared vehicle platforms and technology, joint purchasing, and shared manufacturing. Nissan also said that this purchase will make the company one of the three largest companies by volume in the world. Nissan also emphasized that Mitsubishi will very much be a partner in the current alliance with Renault. In addition, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan and Renault, has been nominated to be the new chairman of the Mitsubishi board. With Ghosn at the head of the board, current Mitsubishi president and CEO, Osamu Masuko, will remain in his positions but Nissan's current chief competitive officer will join Masuko as co-chief executive officer at Mitsubishi. With these companies now working together, we'll probably start seeing more commonality between Nissan and Mitsubishi products here in the States. It would also be a great opportunity to get some of Mitsubishi's cooler products here. Perhaps Mitsubishi and Nissan will take our hint about the Delica. This article has been revised to clarify that Nissan Motors purchased the stake in Mitsubishi, not the Nissan-Renault Alliance, and to add the value of the purchase. Related Video: News Source: Nissan, Wall Street JournalImage Credit: Issei Kato / Reuters Mitsubishi Nissan Renault renault-nissan alliance