DaimlerChrysler, the German-US automotive group, is renegotiating its $1.9 billion (€2.14 billion) alliance with Mitsubishi Motors following a share price collapse at the Japanese car-maker.
Mr Jurgen Schrempp, DaimlerChrysler chief executive, has dispatched two senior directors to Tokyo for emergency talks this weekend on DaimlerChrysler's proposed purchase of a 34 per cent stake in Mitsubishi Motors.
Officials close to the talks said Mr Schrempp was "very keen on getting the price down".
Shares in Mitsubishi Motors have fallen more than 32 per cent following its admission that it covered up customer complaints for 30 years and would have to recall more than 600,000 cars to rectify potential faults.
The company is also under investigation by the Japanese ministry of transport and the Tokyo police for possible violation of the country's Road Vehicles Law and failure to recall vehicles with potentially dangerous defects.
DaimlerChrysler is expected to seek increased board representation at Mitsubishi and to place more middle managers inside the Japanese car-maker, particularly in areas such as quality control.
Mr Eckhard Cordes, DaimlerChrysler's head of corporate development, and Mr Manfred Bischoff, director of industrial operations, are to meet Mitsubishi president Mr Katsuhiko Kawasoe before returning to Germany early next week.
It is thought that Mr Bischoff, due to become a non-executive director of Mitsubishi, will press for a third executive alongside the two DaimlerChrysler directors who joined the Mitsubishi board earlier this week.
DaimlerChrysler is determined to stabilise day-to-day operations at Mitsubishi, a main plank of its Asian expansion strategy.
The two companies will have a combined market share of almost 11 per cent in Japan and 9.4 per cent elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.
DaimlerChrysler also hopes to harness Mitsubishi's expertise in small cars to develop new urban vehicles. In an attempt to restore consumer confidence, Mitsubishi yesterday established an advisory panel to oversee quality control.
