Nissan Wants Reciprocal Partnerships with Other Automakers

• The company wants to work with partners that have what Nissan needs, and need what Nissan has.

• An upcoming electrified body-on-frame platform and electric vehicles are the brand’s bargaining chips.

• Earlier reports claimed Nissan was in talks with Ford and Stellantis to supply them with hybrid crossovers.

Nissan is still looking for partners to drag it out of its difficult financial situation, but the automaker doesn’t want the relationship to be purely transactional.

According to Ponz Pandikuthira, chief product planner for Nissan Americas, the automaker wants a partnership in which both parties bring something to the table. “Somebody has something that we would like; we have something that they would like”, he recently told Automotive News.

This would help make the relationship a long-term partnership, which is less likely if Nissan were to simply buy a complete vehicle or powertrain from one of its rivals.

2025 has been a tough year for Nissan, with the company reporting its largest annual loss in twenty-five years.

Despite this, the automaker still believes it can keep functioning on its own if all talks of a partnership fall through, but this would place the company in a precarious position if the economy dips in the coming years.

While Nissan is in financial trouble, its global lineup is pretty diversified and modern, so it isn’t clear what type of vehicle the company might need a partner to supply.

It seems more likely that Nissan wants to share the development costs of its upcoming models with other companies.

This also tracks when we take a look at what Nissan believes its bargaining chips are in ongoing negotiations with other automakers.

Indeed, the company is working on a new body-on-frame platform for electrified SUVs and pickups, which is expected to be used by the next generation of the Frontier and Pathfinder, along with the revived X-Terra, which will be a rugged off-road capable SUV.

We already know that Mitsubishi is considering building an electrified crossover with Nissan and that this model would be manufactured by the latter in the United States starting in 2028.

A rebadged version of the Frontier would also provide Mitsubishi with a pickup truck in North America, something its retailers have been requesting for a while.

This is not empty speculation either, as Nissan said last year it was studying a joint venture with Mitsubishi for its next pickup, which could offer both hybrid and fully-electric versions.

Speaking of which, electric vehicles are the other way in which Nissan could help a potential partner.

Indeed, the automaker has experience with this technology, having been one of the first mainstream automakers to offer an EV with the Leaf back in 2010, and it currently has two modern EVs in its lineup, with more on the way.

Once again, we know Mitsubishi will take the company up on this offer, with the company expected to launch its own version of the new Nissan Leaf in the coming months.

Nissan says that co-developed models don’t have to be rebadges of one another, with a significant potential for differentiation that could preserve each automaker’s personality.

A good example of this are the current Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander, which manage to look and feel quite different despite sharing the same platform.

While Mitsubishi is an obvious candidate for sharing vehicles with Nissan due to the companies’ existing alliance, it is not the only automaker with whom talks are ongoing.

Honda and Nissan in Talks to Co-Develop Vehicles and Powertrains in North America

In fact, earlier reports had shown that Nissan is discussing with Ford and Stellantis about the possibility of supplying them with a hybrid crossover based on its next-generation Rogue.

In addition, talks with Honda are continuing, despite earlier merger attempts falling through, reportedly because Honda wanted Nissan to abandon its third-generation e-Power hybrid system, which it had recently spent millions developing.

Now, it appears Honda is open to the idea of jointly developing new models with Nissan.

While this might raise some eyebrows in North America, where Honda is in a significant position of power, it is worth remembering that Nissan has a much larger footprint in other key markets, such as Europe, and a more diversified lineup that ranges from Kei cars to commercial trucks and compact EVs to body-on-frame trucks and SUVs. Honda could therefore benefit from Nissan’s experience for vehicles destined for other markets.

Source: Automotive News