Renault Nissan Mitsubishi outline 2030 roadmap

EIGHTEEN months after announcing its new co-operation business model, Renault Group, Nissan Motor Company Limited and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation have announced a set of common projects and actions the Alliance says will accelerate and shape its shared future towards 2030.

The roadmap focuses heavily on the mobility value chain, pure electric (BEV) vehicles and connected mobility. The group says it will expand the use of common platforms to 80 per cent by 2026 while, at the same time, increasing its research into solid-state battery technology. 

The Alliance partners say they plan to invest €23 billion ($A36.6 billion) over the next five years in support of its electrification programme. 

Continuing the Leader-Follower scheme the Alliance defined in May 2020, select technology is developed by one leading team with the support of the followers, which effectively allows each of the three manufacturers to access all of the key technologies

“Among the world's automotive leaders, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance is a proven, unique model. For 22 years, we have been building on our respective cultures and strengths for our common benefit,” Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance chairperson Jean-Dominique Senard said.

“Today, the Alliance is accelerating to lead the mobility revolution and deliver more value to customers, our people, our shareholders and all our stakeholders. The three member-companies have defined a common roadmap towards 2030, through which it will share investments in future electrification and connectivity projects. 

“These are massive investments that none of the three companies could make alone. Together, we are making the difference for a new and global sustainable future; the Alliance will be carbon neutral by 2050,” he added.

Mr Senard said the three Alliance members had developed a “smart differentiation” methodology that defined the desired level of commonality for each vehicle and integrated several parameters of possible pooling, such as platforms, production plants, powertrains or vehicle segment.

This is supplemented and enhanced by a stricter approach to design and upper-body (top hat) differentiation. For example, the common platform for the C- and D-segment will carry five models from three brands (Nissan Qashqai and X-TRAIL, Mitsubishi Outlander, Renault Austral and a as-yet unnamed seven-seat SUV).

Strengthening this process, the Alliance members will enhance usage of common platforms in the coming years from 60 to 80 per cent of its combined 90 models by 2026 – including two new Mitsubishi models for the European market based on popular Renault derivatives.

Furthermore, the Alliance will extend its common EV platforms to five, leading to the introduction of 35 new EV models by the end of the decade. 

The platforms include the affordable CMF-AEV, the base for the new Dacia Spring, the KEI-EV platform for Kei-category ultra-compact models, LCV-EV for light commercial electric vehicles such as the Renault Kangoo and Nissan Town Star, and global CMF-EV modular architecture that will underpin the Nissan Ariya EV crossover and Renault Megane E-Tech Electric, among others.

Mr Senard said that by 2030, more than 15 models would be based on the CMF-EV platform, with up to 1.5 million cars produced on this platform per year. 

As part of its roadmap, the Alliance also committed to a common battery strategy it says will focus the selection of a common battery supplier for Renault and Nissan in core markets. It plans to have a production capacity of 220GWh across key EV production sites by 2030, with aims to incrementally reduce battery costs along the way (50 per cent by 2026 and 65 per cent by 2028).

Mr Senard added that all-solid-state battery technology (ASSB) – led by Nissan – would spawn further innovations “that will benefit all Alliance members”. It is expected ASSB technology will be mass produced by mid-2028 and will feature state-of-the-art battery management technology to further reduce costs.

The final piece of the Alliance roadmap focuses on intelligent and connected mobility. 

Mr Senard said that by 2026, over 25 million cars would be connected to the Alliance Cloud – a common centralised electrical and electronic architecture that converges hardware and software applications alongside the Google ecosystem.

He said the Alliance would launch its first full software-defined vehicle by 2025. The upcoming model would improve customer interactions because its digital ecosystem offered “a more personalised experience, new enhanced services, and reduced maintenance costs”.

In addition, “software defined vehicles will be able to communicate with connected objects, users, and infrastructure, opening new fields of value for the Alliance companies”, Mr Senard concluded.