Nissan takes 34 pct stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. is investing 237 billion yen ($2.2 billion) to take a 34 percent stake in scandal-ridden Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in what Nissan Chief Carlos Ghosn said is "a win-win" deal intended to repeat the success of his Nissan-Renault alliance.

Ghosn appeared with Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Osamu Masuko at a hastily called joint news conference Thursday in Yokohama, where Nissan is headquartered.

Mitsubishi group companies — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, trading company Mitsubishi Corp. and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ — will continue to hold stakes in the automaker, but they have agreed to support the alliance with Nissan, both sides said.

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors, which makes the Outlander sport-utility vehicle and the i-MiEV electric car, acknowledged last month that it had systematically falsified mileage data for its eK wagon and eK Space light passenger cars, which were produced for Nissan as the Nissan Dayz and Dayz Roox.

[...] Nissan, which makes the March subcompact, Infinti luxury models and Leaf electric car, will face a major challenge in repairing Mitsubishi's tarnished reputation and winning back consumer trust.

In the early 2000s, Mitsubishi disclosed a shocking scandal involving cover-ups of defects such as failing brakes, faulty clutches and fuel tanks prone to falling off, dating back to the 1970s.

Ghosn has saved Nissan from near-bankruptcy, imposing cost cuts that have been more efficient, if not brutal, than old-style Japanese management, which relies on cautious, harmonious decision-making by committee and vaguely defined responsibilities.

Mitsubishi had an unsuccessful partnership involving foreign management, with DaimlerChrysler AG from 2000, that failed to reverse Mitsubishi's debts and lagging sales.