Mitsubishi Screwed Up Big Time But It Could Be Getting Bailed Out By Nissan

The Japanese automaker recently admitted that it had been misrepresenting the fuel economy on its JDM kei cars, or minicars. The good news is that none of its cars sold in the US were caught up in the scandal (yay!). The bad news is that nine more vehicles, including an SUV, may have incorrect gas mileage ratings. Now Nissan is looking to profit from the crisis, with Bloomberg reporting that the automaker is trying to buy 34% stake in Mitsubishi for $1.84 billion.

This stake would give it a controlling interest in the company, effectively letting Nissan call the shots. Mitsubishi isn’t the most attractive automaker in the US but apparently it does quite well in Southeast Asia. What’s more is that Mitsubishi Motors is strong enough (so far) to whether the storm without the help of the other companies in the Mitsubishi group. This means that it must pull in a decent profit worldwide. While things look bad now this could be a great value buy for Nissan, although it may not make waves in America. But who knows, maybe with Nissan running things the brand could do a 180. What we mean is that the Lancer—and by extension the Evo—could return. Yeah, it’s a longshot but we prefer to look at the glass as half full.