Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have agreed to extend their collaboration with some new projects that they hope will lead to win-win situations.
Besides the agreement for Nissan to provide a light van to Mitsubishi for the Japanese market and for Mitsubishi to provide Nissan with an SUV for the Middle East, the two are also considering a bakkie collaboration.
In the short term this would mean building the current generation Nissan Navara bakkie at Mitsubishi's Thailand plant, while in the long-term, the two companies could collaborate on the engineering of a new generation one-tonne bakkie.
This would mean the next Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton models sharing a platform, although just how closely they'd be related in terms of styling and mechanicals remains to be seen.
The establishment of a 50:50 joint venture for engineering and producing a range of mini cars for the Japanese domestic market is also under discussion.
Nissan President Carlos Ghosn said: "This agreement is important for Nissan as it supports our expansion in emerging markets, meets immediate capacity needs overseas, and enables us to grow our mini car business in Japan.
"Our relationship with Mitsubishi demonstrates the ability of the Renault-Nissan Alliance - with its network of global partnerships - to constantly evolve and create new win-win relationships with other companies in function of specific needs and shared objectives."