There are disclosed Mm/Ni type hydrogen storage alloys for Ni/MH secondary cells. The alloys which allow the cells to be of high performance and high capacity can be prepared at lower costs than the production costs of conventional Co-rich hydrogen storage alloys, by reducing the amount of the Co element. The Co element is partially or wholly replaced by by Cr, Cu, Fe, Zn and/or Zi, which are each known to be of stronger affinity for hydrogen than is Co and to have such a strong oxidation tendency in electrolytes as to form a highly dense oxide. The novel alloys have discharge capacities and electrode life span as good as those of the conventional Co-rich hydrogen storage alloys but have advantages over the Co-rich alloys, including performance-to-cost.