Yes I do realize the EVO is built in Japan...

Mitsubishi Motors to Cut Production at Plant in Illinois, but Won't Decide How Much Until Fall
7/19/04 0:42AM GMT
By AUDREY McAVOY , Associated Press Writer

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will cut production at its U.S. plant in Illinois, but won't decide by how much until September, a company spokesman said Monday.

The automaker, which has suffered a plunge in Japanese sales amid a cover-up scandal and a spate of recalls, announced a restructuring plan in May to cut 10,900 jobs over three years, close a car plant in Japan and receive a cash injection of 450 billion yen ($4 billion) from several investors.

In the United States, Mitsubishi's sales fell 27 percent in the six months through June, in part because it was forced to tighten its criteria for making loans. Mitsubishi Motors had been offering zero-percent financing and allowing borrowers to defer payments to boost sales, but this strategy backfired when many borrowers defaulted on their payments.

A review of the automaker's plant in Normal, Illinois is continuing, a company spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

The plant, with about 3,100 employees, has the capacity to produce 180,000 cars a year. It made 156,800 vehicles in the fiscal year that ended in March.

The plant produces the Galant, Eclipse and Endeavor for Mitsubishi and, until 2005, the Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring.

The reputation of Mitsubishi Motors already was tarnished by a recall cover-up scandal spanning decades that emerged in 2000. But in recent months, it admitted it continued to hide defects in recent years and announced recall after recall, affecting some 370,000 vehicles and most of its models in Japan.

Its truck affiliate, spun off last year, is recalling 450,000 trucks and buses for dozens of defects it had concealed for years.

In April, U.S.-German partner DaimlerChrysler AG, which owned 37 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, said it was no longer willing to pump cash into the Tokyo-based automaker.

DaimlerChrysler's stake in the automaker has since dropped to 25 percent after Mitsubishi issued new shares to other investors to raise cash.

 

Hopefully QA will improve substantially at that plant with the restructuring.

 

Lets look at what they produce in Illinois plant.

The plant produces
the Galant, (crap sedan)
Eclipse (No AWD, might as well be crap)
Endeavor ( SUV crap)

sounds like a good move to me.

 

Proves yet once more that we have to go through when dealing with a foreign manufacturer.
American workers gonna be thrown out onto the street. It was not workers' fault they had to produce cr&p like Eclipse and the SUVs.
Quite a tendrum: if other manufacturers have at least one model that makes them the most profit ( Camry for Toyota, F-150 for Ford) , WHAT IS a model that makes the most profit for in US? None. that's how differs from smart manufacturers, and after all is said and done , the american workers and consumers like you and moi have to pay for irresponsibility of .
Someone in Japan decided that Galant can compete with Camry and Accord or Diamante can compete with BMW 530 in US. I did not see such irresponsibility from a car manufacturer in awhile .
We have the largest car market in ze world why would not built a Ralliart facility here and sell supped up lancers and Evolutions for profit (considering savings on freight and such). The rest will derrive from success of Evolution ( which already had a smashing PR for American audience), like other Evolution models of Pajero etc..
Who designed that Endeavor? Did we really lack ugly SUVs ?

 

the endeavor is doing OK but not wonderful, the eclipse was a breadwinner for a while, but has tamed quite a lot.

so yeah, cutting production is the only sane thing to do.

IBtheskyisfalling

 

We have the largest auto market in the world, which also means there is the most competion, the highest marketing costs, logistical and regulatory nightmares, and the one thing you are missing for sure, a market that loves HUGE cars compared to the rest of the world. And remember, if we didn't let the "foreign" guy manufacture cars here, we wouldn't have had the jobs AT ALL. You have no idea of the scope of what you are talking about...

 

i spent all summer driving new mitsubishi's. the Endeavor is a very well built SUV, and handles rather well on the highway (and i dont mean just cruising at 65). the galant gt-s and the ls v6 are also very nice sedans that are hella fast for there market. hell there faster than my RSX (yea yea, its just an RSX). the eclipse...eh i dont like it, tho the Spyder was fun to cruise in.

 

not very suprising considering a company that makes numerous junk and one awesome product.seriously the evo is the only good thing mitsu makes anymore.

 

Yeah, so their sales have been dragging and the planned expansion in Normal hasn't happened...but the main reason for this is because as (read above) Chrysler announced this week their pulling all of their product out of the plant. That is a fairly large drop in volume there that Mitsu cars cannot make up, so its only necessary that they have to go through a de-rate and cut production because of this.

Not really anything all that surprising or unexpected, nor anything to base any assumptions about the company or any other vehicles on.

 

the endeavor is not crap at all. My mom bought one recently and she loves it! I've driven it some and I am very impressed. It doesn't have many luxurious features or other superfluous items, but the car is solid, handles well, and the 3.8 litre has alot of torque. I also had a 3g eclipse before I had the Evo, and it too was a great car that I had zero problems with.

 

SOON THEY WILL GO UNDER. They have no cars.

 

The news story is speculation at this time. A spokesperson from has already stated that cuts are NOT planned, yet.
does not really have a product problem here in the U.S. They have an image and consumer perception problem compunded by poor dealer service (see link)

http://www.jdpower.com/news/releases...asp?ID=2004065

needs to improve both its PR and customer service accross the board (dealership and internal) in the U.S. In Japan they just simply need stellar PR. The fallout over there has turned into a bloodbath, with unsubstantiated stories being circulated by the press having led to near public panic (talk about sheep-like behavior...)
No, is NOT going under. $4.6 billion in support and good sales in China and Europe are helping.

 

I doubt Mitsubishi will go under... dont forget that Nissan was bankrupt at one time (late 90's?) and is now the #2 Japanese car company (behind toyota, infront of honda)

 

i heard that toyota is helping mitsubishi out

 

Toyota will hire 400 workers from 's Okazaki plant of a total of 1,600. No further cooperation with Toyota has been announced.