How Mitsubishi plans to keep its identity while technology-sharing with Nissan and Renault

Mitsubishi's new-gen Outlander, hitting Australian showrooms this month, might share its underpinnings with the Nissan X-Trail and Renault Koleos, but the brand believes its product can still retain a unique identity.

Having entered into the Alliance with Nissan and Renault in 2016, Mitsubishi has looked to its partners for new technologies and architectures - where it makes sense - to keep new-vehicle development costs down, resulting in the new Outlander utilising the CMF-CD platform.

Both the Outlander and X-Trail also share the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and continuously variable transmission (CVT) combo, with the latter outputting 135kW/245Nm while local details for the latter are still to be confirmed for its late 2022 launch.

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But Mitsubishi Australia general manager of marketing and product strategy Oliver Mann told CarsGuide the Outlander is very different in the way it feels, as well as how it looks.

“Everything you see and feel and touch on the Outlander is Mitsubishi, the thing you don’t see are the things we leverage the Alliance for,” he said. 

“So even though the hardware and powertrain systems may be the same, we’re very proud of our Super All Wheel Control heritage and it’s around the design of those control systems that Mitsubishi really differs.”

Even technology which could have great advantages for Mitsubishi will get rejected if it doesn’t feel ‘Mitsubishi’ said the brand’s public relations manager Catherine Humphreys-Scott.

“If there is ever donor technology, we won’t take it if it doesn’t feel Mitsubishi,” she said. 

“If you can feel it – whether it’s the way it drives or if you can touch it, it needs to feel Mitsubishi. So, although the technology may be available from an Alliance partner, if it’s not consistent with our philosophy and approach and what our customers expect when they get in our car then we’ll look somewhere else. 

“We won’t compromise the brand.”

However, one exception to this philosophy seems to be the 2020 Mitsubishi Express commercial van, which is just a rebadged version of the Renault Trafic with some equipment omitted to lower to the price.

The Mitsubishi Express controversially scored zero stars in ANCAP's safety assessment in early 2021, citing the lack of advanced safety features such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keep assist.

While the mechanically related Trafic also lacks such features - and does not carry an official ANCAP safety rating - it was released back in 2015 before tougher stricter crash tests were brought in. 

To also keep all three brands separated in Australia, especially the two SUVs and ute-focused Japanese brands, Mr Mann said there is zero communication between the two on future plans.

“The first thing to say is that, with the Alliance, we don’t know what Nissan is doing in Australia with their product thinking,” he said.

“So, we’re completely blind to whatever they do.

“All we can talk about is what we do and the benefits that the Alliance offers us – such as the platform on which the Outlander is based and shared with Nissan and a number of other products in the alliance.”