May 12, 2016—Nissan Motor Company will invest $2.2 billion to buy 34 percent of Mitsubishi Motors, a controlling stake in the company, according to a report from Automotive News.
An agreement will be signed by May 25 in which Nissan may name four directors to Mitsubishi Motors’ board, including a chairman, the two companies said.
The announcement comes after Mitsubishi Motors admitted to cheating on emissions tests.
“We had to do something quite daring,” Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko said. “It is not an easy task to restore trust.”
“It represents a win-win,” Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said. “We believe in the potential of Mitsubishi Motors.”
Mitsubishi gains a good source of funding to recover from the emissions scandal in the deal, while Nissan will gain a foothold in Southeast Asia, where Mitsubishi sales are strong. French automaker Renault SA, which owns a 43.4 percent stake in Nissan, will also partner with Mitsubishi in small steps. Nissan owns a 15 percent stake in Renault.
“We are not going to change Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi is going to change by itself,” Ghosn said. “We are going to support Mitsubishi to do that.”