Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi powers up new strategy

— Gambling that mass-market drivers are going to pivot soon to electric cars, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance announced plans Friday to produce 12 new electric models by 2022 and to make electric cars 30 percent of its overall output.

The carmakers, who collectively sold more vehicles than any other company in the world in the first half of this year, also announced plans to make “robo-taxis,” driverless public transport vehicles and autonomous cars aimed at middleclass consumers.

The announcements are part of an overall strategic plan released Friday, aimed at taking advantage of the alliance’s growing reach after taking over Mitsubishi last year to consolidate its position and make electric and driverless cars more affordable. They also unveiled a new logo for the three-way alliance and renamed it Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi.

CEO Carlos Ghosn is betting that upcoming government restrictions on diesel and gasoline cars will push drivers to go electric instead.

“We don’t know how much time it’s going to take, but this is coming,” Ghosn said. Britain and France have decided to ban new diesel and gasoline car sales from 2040, and China is considering a similar move.

“People are looking a little bit further into the future, saying, ‘I’m going to go electric because I don’t want to have the problem with the car I have today three, four years down the road,’ ” he said.

All major car companies are trying to position themselves to profit from the expected but unpredictable and chaotic changes overtaking the indusPARIS try: autonomous cars, connected cars that share data, car-sharing where you don’t own a vehicle but order one by app and low-emissions vehicles demanded by the European Union to fight climate change and by China, where many cities are fighting rampant pollution.

At the Frankfurt auto show last week, several car manufacturers showed off electric and other low-emissions technology strategies. Volkswagen AG notably announced a long-term electrification campaign, saying its brands would introduce 80 new electric vehicles by 2025.