FILE PHOTO: Mitsubishi Motors Corp's President and CEO Osamu Masuko speaks to the media after the company's board meeting at a showroom of the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese partners of Renault SA have not been left in the dark by the automaker over its merger talks with Fiat Chrysler, the chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp said on Wednesday.

“If the intention was to leave us out, they wouldn’t have come all this way to explain their position, would they?” Osamu Masuko told reporters, following a meeting of top executives from Renault, Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi.

“For us, the fact that they are explaining their position to us means that they want us to be a part of their plan,” he said.

Masuko said he was directly informed by Renault of its plans to merge with Fiat Chrysler for the first time earlier on Wednesday. FCA announced the plan on Monday.