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Nissan and Mitsubishi reportedly working on a 1-ton pickup for the U.S.

We can probably consider it a testament to how far ex-Nissan Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn veered the conglomerate off the straight and narrow that Nissan continues to restate its global aims. Four years ago, Ghosn successor CEO Makoto Uchida announced Nissan Next, part of the plan's global initiatives to "[Focus] on global core model segments including enhanced C and D segment vehicles, electric vehicles, sport cars," "Introduce 12 models in the next 18 months," and "[Expand] presence in EVs and electric-motor-driven cars, including e-POWER, with more than 1 million electrified sales units expected a year by end of FY23." About 18 months later, the automaker expanded on detail with Ambition 2030, which would invest 2 trillion yen ($13.2 billion U.S.) through 2026, part of which would pay for launching 23 new electrified models, 15 of those pure-electric and planned to hit the market by 2027. It's been a tough row to hoe. Now, at the end of Nissan's fiscal year in March, Uchida announced a revised business plan called The Arc. This would put 30 new models on the market by the end of fiscal year 2026 (March 2027), 16 of which will be electrified. Note the climbdown: Ambition 2030 wanted to put 23 electrified vehicles on the market, 15 of them pure-electric, The Arc wants 30 total vehicles, 16 electrified, eight of them pure-electric. A report in Automotive News says one of those BEVs could be an electric one-ton pickup that Nissan will develop with Mitsubishi for the North American market, as well as a plug-in hybrid powertrain that will power an unknown body style and could also serve the pickup. The PHEV would come first, no surprise based on trends in the EV market. Mitsubishi would develop the PHEV powertrain, perhaps an evolution of the system sold in the Outlander PHEV here and the Eclipse Cross PHEV in international markets like Australia. Bringing a PHEV would give Mitsu a third plug-in model, and give Nissan a second to go along with the China-specific Venucia-brand PHEV that launched last year. Beyond giving Nissan a much needed hybrid to sell in the U.S. — the automaker doesn't sell any here now — it would give Mitsubishi dealers some much needed new product.  The pickup, on the other hand, would employ Nissan's EV expertise. It's planned for our market sometime between March 31, 2027, and the same date in 2031. This could make it a part of Nissan's planned family of next-gen modular EVs that debut after the eight models coming by 2026.

Nissan rolls Versa Note inside world's largest zorb [w/video]

With features like lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and moving object detection bundled into its Safety Shield suite, Nissan touts the Versa Note as among the safer vehicles on the road. And to highlight that, the Japanese automaker has taken its diminutive hatchback Zorbing.
Zwhat now, you ask? Zorbing. It's a sport (really more of a recreational activity, if you ask us) that involves getting into a giant inflatable ball, rolling down a slope and, well... that's about the extent of it. It's the same thing we did on hills as kids, only with more plastic. And ridicule.
The CarZorb which Nissan had crafted for the Note measures 60 feet around and weighs a metric ton. Nissan tested the device, which took two months to make, at a "top secret military training facility in the UK," then placed the hatchback inside and rolled it down a hill, all for the sake of the two-minute video clip below. So we hope you enjoy.

Nissan, Renault in talks to merge as one company

Nissan and Renault have been tied together as an alliance for nearly 20 years, but now the Japanese and French automakers are discussing whether to merge. Bloomberg, citing unidentified sources familiar with the confidential talks, reports that the idea is to form a larger, single publicly traded company to better compete against giants like Toyota and Volkswagen. It would also mark the end of the alliance that first began in 1999 and also includes Mitsubishi, in which Nissan acquired a controlling interest in 2016. A full merger would help the companies pool resources to develop electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and car-sharing services. It would involve Nissan giving Renault shareholders stock in the new company, with Nissan shareholders also gaining shares in the new company, Bloomberg reports. The new company would be run by Carlos Ghosn, the current chairman of both companies. But any such merger, as you might expect, would be complicated, in part by geopolitics. The French government owns a 15-percent stake in Renault, and both the French and Japanese governments might be reluctant to let go of their respective home-grown brands. Currently, Renault owns a 43-percent stake in Nissan, while Nissan owns 15 percent of its French partner. Reuters reported recently that Ghosn proposed buying most of the French government's stake in Renault as part of plans for a closer tie-up. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance already has been working to establish a $200 million mobility tech fund to invest in startups, a reflection of how seismic changes in the auto industry have left many legacy companies scrambling to stay current. Nissan in 2016 paid a reported $2.3 billion to acquire 34 percent of Mitsubishi in order to share platforms, technology, manufacturing and other resources. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg Earnings/Financials Government/Legal Green Mitsubishi Nissan Renault car sharing merger