PARIS: Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will procure two models produced by France’s Renault SA for sale in Europe starting in 2023, the alliance of the two automakers and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. said in a joint statement Wednesday.

Mitsubishi Motors, which has been forced to put a freeze on its new vehicle development in Europe due to a downturn in earnings, will sell the two Renault-made models as Mitsubishi-brand cars.

“I am very happy to see Mitsubishi Motors building a new lineup in Europe,” Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said in the statement.

In a separate statement released by Mitsubishi Motors alone, the Japanese automaker said specifics about the two models to be procured from Renault and the countries where they will be sold have yet to be decided.

Mitsubishi Motors also said it has decided to end new car sales business in some European countries by 2023. The company has indicated in a medium-term business plan announced in July last year that it will concentrate its management resources on its mainstay markets in Southeast Asia.

JIJI Press