From correspondents in Kanto, Japan, 12:01 PM IST

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen is in talks with Mitsubishi Motors Corp to become the company's top shareholder, news reports said Thursday.

Peugeot plans to invest hundreds of billions of yen in the Japanese carmaker, the Kyodo News agency quoted unnamed sources as saying.

The Nikkei economic daily said Peugeot plans to spend up to 300 billion yen ($3.4 billion) for a 30 to 50 percent stake in Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi hopes to turn its struggling businesses around through the capital investment from Peugeot, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, while the French carmaker seeks to tap into the Mitsubishi's expertise in electric vehicles and other environmental technologies, Kyodo said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)