Nissan takes major stake in scandal-plagued Mitsubishi
TOKYO - Nissan is taking a controlling stake in scandal-ridden Japanese rival Mitsubishi Motors,
Nissan CEO executive Carlos Ghosn on Thursday announced Nissan will invest 237 billion yen ($2.2 billion) and buy a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi. That will make Nissan the biggest investor in its rival.
Mitsubishi is under investigation for lying about the fuel economy of its cars.
The company has said the extent of such fraudulence was wide, possibly affecting all current and discontinued models sold in Japan. It abided by mileage-test requirements for vehicles sold abroad, it said.
U.S. environmental regulators have ordered additional testing to verify gas mileage on the five models Mitsubishi sells in the U.S., including three cars and two SUVs.
Nissan also disclosed that it suffered a 40 percent plunge in January-March profit as sales dipped and currency perks faded. The automaker reported a 71 billion yen ($651 million) profit for the quarter Thursday. It had a 119 billion yen profit the same period of 2015.
Quarterly sales edged down 1.2 percent to 3.25 trillion yen ($29.8 billion). For the fiscal year, Nissan's profit rose 15 percent to 523.8 billion yen ($4.8 billion).
The Yokohama-based automaker forecast a 525 billion yen ($4.8 billion) profit for the fiscal year through March 2017.