Renault-Nissan to do more together in $26 billion electric bet

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is seen ahead of a Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi chiefs' joint news conference in Yokohama, Japan, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) -Renault and Nissan (OTC:NSANY) will work more closely together to make electric cars, they said on Thursday, detailing their plans to spend 23 billion euros ($26 billion) on the transition to cleaner vehicles over the next five years.

The two-decade old alliance, which also includes Mitsubishi Motors (OTC:MMTOF), said it would increase the number of common platforms for electric vehicles (EV) to five from four.

They will be used to build a combined EV line-up of 35 vehicles by 2030, the companies said in a press release.

They also said that by 2026 four fifths of all their models would share common platforms, compared with 60% now.

"The alliance remains a powerful partnership. We benefit from shared experience and expertise," said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida.

The commitment to pool resources comes as the three companies face growing competition from bigger carmakers with deeper pockets, such as Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM), which in December pledged to spend $70 billion https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota-says-have-30-battery-electric-line-up-vehicles-by-2030-2021-12-14 to electrify its fleet, as well as EV specialists such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc.

Now the world's most valuable automaker, Tesla forecast on Wednesday its deliveries in 2022 would grow 50% https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-beats-revenue-estimates-record-deliveries-2022-01-26 year on year.

The money promised by Renault (PA:RENA), Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors on Thursday comes from funding they announced last year.

Nissan said in November it would spend 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) over five years to accelerate vehicle electrification, including on EVs and hybrid gasoline-electric cars.

In June, Renault unveiled a five-year 10 billion euro EV strategy https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/renault-raises-targets-share-electric-vehicles-2021-06-30 with a plan to launch 10 models and to have EVs account for 90% of all models by 2030.

Holding their alliance together is a cross-shareholding relationship, with Renault owning 43.4% of Nissan, which in turn has a 15% non-voting stake in the French car company and a third of Mitsubishi Motors' stock.

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