Nissan and Mitsubishi already have an co-operative relationship, named NMKV, which has developed a shared minivan platform for the two brands, sold in the heavily size-restricted ‘Kei Car’ segment of the Japanese market since earlier this year.

This will now be extended to develop a Kei Car which can be sold globally, potentially across all three brands, with an electric drivetrain. A conventionally-powered version, featuring a maximum of a 660cc engine with 63bhp, will be available in Japan.

Mitsubishi will also launch two Renault-based saloon cars – a D-segment model for North America, set to be manufactured at the Renault-Samsung plant in Busan, South Korea, and a C-Segment saloon which could be sold in Europe.

President and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Carlos Ghosn said: ‘I welcome the direction being taken towards this broader cooperation, creating new opportunities for Renault in addition to further leveraging the productive relationship between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.’

Osamu Masuko, president of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation added: ‘The new opportunities could be described as evidence that the ongoing collaborative projects between Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan have brought positive results, and Mitsubishi Motors hopes that any new collaborative projects with the Renault-Nissan Alliance would bring us further merits.’