TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp. says it may consider expanding the range of its ties with Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said in its morning edition yesterday that Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan are negotiating a broad-based alliance in their passenger car operations.

The two auto makers are discussing jointly developing and producing mini-cars and compact cars. Under the plan, Nissan will also supply luxury vehicles to Mitsubishi in Japan and other markets on an original equipment manufacturing basis to help the struggling car maker make up for a lack of new products, the paper said.

Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement today that it has made no concrete decisions yet on tightening its ties with Nissan.