Mitsubishi's Nedcar Plant Sold For One Euro

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

According to a Reuters report, the condition of the sweetheart deal is that the 1,500 employees of the plant do not lose their jobs. Mitsubishi Motors is setting its sights on emerging markets. BMW may not be totally out of the picture. Japanese NHK reported that VDL could be producing small cars for BMW.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 7 comments
  • GS650G GS650G on Jul 11, 2012

    How thoughtful a company would condition this on their employees keeping their jobs. When was the last time this happened anywhere else? The Japanese still believe the people are an asset to the company, not just a stupid slogan. If they can't come up with a viable product soon it's going to be difficult to keep that promise.

    • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Jul 11, 2012

      Given the expense of laying off those 1500 people, Mitsubishi probably got a deal.

  • 360joules 360joules on Jul 11, 2012

    More likely some sort of clawback clause in some government incentives/penalties for idling the workforce.

  • KalapanaBlack KalapanaBlack on Jul 11, 2012

    The product problem wasn't NEDCar's, it was Mitsubishi's, God love 'em. They can't seem to get it together these days... That plant was kicking out tons of Colts, Carismas, S40s and V40s for years. Then Volvo and Mitsu skidded to a halt, sales-wise.

  • El scotto El scotto on Jul 11, 2012

    Isn't this plant associated with British Leyland in some unfortunate way?

    • See 1 previous
    • El scotto El scotto on Jul 11, 2012

      @ExPatBrit Thanks for answering a very esoteric question.

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