Nissan falls behind rivals in industry's critical transitional period

May 30, 2020 | News On Japan

May 30, 2020 (Japan Times) - Despite Nissan Motor Co.'s latest efforts to become more cost-efficient and profitable by strengthening its collaboration with Renault SA, its business downturn may be causing a costly delay in the global race toward new mobility technologies, analysts say.

While the new systematic divisions of labor in the automakers alliance of over 20 years may help cut fixed costs, it could take five years or so before they can launch jointly developed models under the new collaboration framework, they say.

The new approach to working together can put an end to infighting over product development often seen under ousted former boss Carlos Ghosn, but it will need time to bear fruit, said Tatsuo Yoshida, senior auto analyst at research group Bloomberg Intelligence.

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