Nissan and Mitsubishi to Partner on a New EV and Pickup Truck for the U.S.

Nissan and Mitsubishi have been part of the same automotive alliance—along with Renault—for a few years now. However, we haven’t seen the two familiar brands collaborate on many models for the U.S. market, save for the Nissan Rogue providing the foundation for the Mitsubishi Outlander. Now, Nissan and Mitsubishi have plans to partner up on new models that are destined for America.

Earlier this week, Nissan announced a three-year plan that includes launching seven new models in North America as well as refreshing the majority of its U.S. lineup by 2026. Also part of that news was that it would work to adopt a plug-in hybrid based on a Mitsubishi-developed powertrain. Since there’s an Outlander PHEV, perhaps that will be translated to the more popular Rogue. Mitsubishi will also benefit from a new EV based on Nissan’s electric platform, possibly the one that underpins the Ariya crossover.

The presentation regarding Nissan’s “Arc” strategy specified that in the coming years Nissan and Mitsubishi will jointly develop a next-generation pickup truck that will be built in Mexico. It’s possible that will be a replacement for the current mid-size Nissan Frontier, and the same goes for the similarly sized Mitsubishi Triton that’s sold overseas.

There’s even a glimpse of the new truck in Nissan’s video presentation, which clearly shows a pickup silhouette with a crew-cab body and a short bed length. As for its powertrains, both electric and plug-in-hybrid options are being considered. Previously, Nissan showed off a funky Surf-Out concept that teased a bed-toting EV.

Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.