NMKV

Japanese automotive joint venture company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NMKV Co., Ltd. is a joint venture company between Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors in the Japanese market to design, develop, and manufacture kei cars under Nissan and Mitsubishi brands. The company currently produces Mitsubishi eK, Nissan Dayz, Mitsubishi eK Space and Nissan Roox for the domestic market.[6][7]

Native name
株式会社NMKV
NMKV Kabushiki-gaisha
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1 June 2011; 14 years ago (2011-06-01)
Quick facts Native name, Romanized name ...
NMKV Co., Ltd.
Native name
株式会社NMKV
NMKV Kabushiki-gaisha
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1 June 2011; 14 years ago (2011-06-01)
Headquarters
Area served
Japan
Key people
  • Tatsuzo Tomita (President and CEO)[2]
  • Toshiyuki Fujikura (Vice President and COO)
ProductsAutomobiles
BrandsNissan
Mitsubishi
¥15,975 million (FY2024)[3]
Total assets¥341,072 million (FY2024)[4]
OwnerNissan (50%)
Mitsubishi Motors (50%)
Number of employees
54 (2025)[5]
Websitenmkv.com
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Overview

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Co., Ltd. agreed to expand its business cooperation on 14 December 2010 from OEM supply to a joint venture.[8][9] As part of that project, a formal contract was made on 20 May 2011 for the establishment of the company, and NMKV was established on 1 June 2011.[10][11]

Nissan is in charge of parts procurement, planning and design, while Mitsubishi is in charge of manufacturing and development. The goal of the company is to increase the market share of Nissan and Mitsubishi in the kei car segment, which was about 15% at the time of company establishment to the target of 20%.

At the time of the establishment of NMKV, Nissan developed a successor of the Mitsubishi eK that was rebadged as Nissan Otti and planned to release it in the first half of 2013. The engine was newly developed. On 6 March 2013, the first jointly developed car, the third generation eK and the first generation Dayz was announced, and sales began in June of the same year.

The joint venture on the development of the third generation eK and Dayz has reduced costs by 30% compared to the predecessor model by procuring parts from outside Japan. In terms of vehicle design, one design proposal would include both Mitsubishi and Nissan front fascia designs. In addition, based on Mitsubishi's original engine 3B20 engine, Nissan's technology was utilized to improve the compression ratio to 12:1 with regular gasoline specification. While the body panels are common parts, the several panels and bumpers are made differently. For joint development, Mitsubishi provided engines, manufacturing plants and development facilities to reduce costs, and Nissan provided safety equipment technologies that Mitsubishi does not have. In addition, the cost of procurement has been reduced for the Nissan side compared to the conventional OEM agreement (rebadge), and the fact that NMKV joint venture also solved the problem that Mitsubishi Motors could not generate the development cost alone. In June 2013, Mitsubishi announced a policy to unify the future kei car development with NMKV.

When the third generation eK Dayz was announced, both companies announced that it would jointly develop a super height wagon kei car as the second model. On 25 March of the same year, Nissan announced that the name of the car would be Dayz Roox, alongside an announcement of the design sketch. On October 3, Mitsubishi also announced that it would name the car as the eK space. Both cars went on sale on 13 February 2014.

In April 2016, Mitsubishi Motors admitted that its employees had falsified fuel efficiency data for the eK Wagon, eK Space, Nissan Dayz and Nissan Dayz Roox. The scandal led to the acquisition of Mitsubishi Motors by Nissan the following month.[12]

As of June 2013, the development team had a total of 4 people. Each 2 people were from Nissan and Mitsubishi, and a total of 18 people in charge of development, 16 from Mitsubishi and 2 from Nissan. NMKV have not started the development of light commercial vehicles in the kei car segment, as both Nissan and Mitsubishi are still rebadging the Suzuki Carry and Suzuki Every.

Models

More information Release date, Nissan ...
Release date Nissan Mitsubishi Segment
Image Name Image Name
6 June 2013[13][14]
Dayz
eK Wagon

(third generation)

Tall kei car wagon[15]
6 June 2013[13][14]
Dayz Highway Star
eK Custom Tall kei car wagon
13 February 2014[16][17]
Dayz Roox
eK Space Super height kei car wagon[18][19]
13 February 2014[16][17]
Dayz Roox Highway Star
eK Space Custom Super height kei car wagon
28 March 2019
Dayz

(second generation)

eK Wagon

(fourth generation)

Tall kei car wagon
28 March 2019
Dayz Highway Star

(second generation)

eK X Tall kei car wagon

Crossover kei car (eK X)

19 March 2020
Roox

(second generation)

eK Space

(second generation)

Super height kei car wagon
19 March 2020
Roox Highway Star

(second generation)

eK X Space

(second generation)

Super height kei car wagon

Crossover kei car (eK X Space)

20 May 2022
Sakura
eK X EV Battery electric tall kei car
13 January 2023
Delica Mini Super height kei car wagon

Crossover kei car

22 August 2025
Roox

(third generation)

eK Space

(third generation)

Super height kei car wagon
22 August 2025
Roox Highway Star

(third generation)

Delica Mini

(second generation)

Super height kei car wagon

Crossover kei car

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Locations

  • Headquarter: Nissan Technical Center, V2 Building, 2F, 560-2, Okatsukoku, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa, 243-0192
  • Okazaki Plant: Mitsubishi Motors Technical Center Okazaki Main Building 4F, 1st Nakashinri, Hashime-cho, Okazaki-shi, Aichi (岡崎市, Headquarters- 3-23-17)
  • Mizushima Office: Takasago-cho, 6-1 (Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Mizushima Plant), Mizushima, Kurashiki, Okayama[20][21]

References

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