Mitsubishi Motors Corp plans to honor the remaining 5 ½ year contract deal it has with Ally Financial Inc. for consumer financing, despite Nissan Motor taking a controlling stake in the company back in October, said Don Swearingen, Mitsubishi Motors North America chief operating officer, during a press event ahead of the Detroit auto show.
However when it comes to commercial financing and floorplanning “everything’s on the table,” Swearingen added, according to reports from the event.
The contract states that Ally Financial will remain Mitsubishi’s preferred lender through April 2022, despite the fact that Nissan — which has its own captive arm Nissan Motor Acceptance — is now the controlling company.
In July an NMAC spokesman said that is was possible Mitsubishi vehicles would be financed through Nissan’s captive, however “that investment has not been approved by the regulatory regime yet.”
In 2012, the contract stipulated that Ally would be the preferred financier on consumer retail sales and that leasing would be split between Ally and Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America, according to a previous AFN report.
The No. 2 Japanese auto maker bought 34% of Mitsubishi Motors in October after the company struggled to recover from an emissions scandal, in which the auto maker overstated the mileage of several vehicles.
Car designs from the two companies will remain independent and distinct, but will share aspects of production, electric vehicle and autonomous driving technologies in order to lower costs through synergies, Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive of Nissan, said in October. It’s still unclear how exactly the financial arms will cooperate.
