Mitsubishi Rescues American Production… For Exports?

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Most foreign-based automakers see the United States as a market first and a production center second: If sales are good enough, production will follow. Mitsubishi, on the other hand, seems to be taking the opposite approach. The Japanese automaker has announced [via Automotive News [sub]] that it will replace production its weak-selling midsized offerings (Galant, Endeavor, Eclipse) at its Normal, Il factory with one model: the Outlander Sport compact crossover. The Outlander Sport (known elsewhere as RVR and ASX) is Mitsu’s newest vehicle, but the firm still envisions only abput half of Normal’s planned 50k units of production to be sold in North American markets (a safe estimate considering it’s still not outselling the Lancer). The other half will be exported to Russia, Latin America and the Middle East. That’s right, Mitsubishi is keeping its only UAW-represented workforce in order to build compact crossovers for export.

Though Mitsubishi’s bosses insist that they have no intention of leaving the US, the fact that it’s not replacing its “Project America”-platform midsized vehicles speaks volumes about the firm’s evolving approach to the US market. Rather than half-assing an America-specific lineup without the resources needed to break into our crazy-competitive C- and D-Segments, Mitsubishi seems to be going to a more global lineup. Which makes sense: as gas prices rise, Mitsu’s cheap-and-cheerful global vehicles likely won’t do much worse than the PS-Platform midsized laggards… and they don’t require unique development. According to AN [sub], the plan is as follows:

The first new arrival will be the low-volume i electric vehicle due this year. A Thailand-made global small car is scheduled to arrive in early 2013, and from 2012-15 Mitsubishi plans to bring five more models or variations: an additional electric vehicle and four plug-in hybrids.

The “i” EV will be a tiny volume player, but the forthcoming global small car could at least put Mitsu into competition for the newly-hot B-Segment. As for the rest of the vehicles, who knows? Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn has been giving Mitsu hungry looks, so alt-drivetrain cooperation could be a possibility down the road. There’s even a rumor [sub] that Mitsu will rebadge the Infiniti M as a “replacement” for its Diamante “flagship,” but who knows if that will happen (let alone whether it will be more than a JDM-only deal). Either way, Mitsu is still making a profit globally, so treating the US as a piece of the global puzzle rather than a major growth opportunity makes quite a bit of sense. And if they want to build cars here for export, well, all the better.


Pay taxes in Illinois? Mitsubishi’s 1,300 UAW-represented job there will be saved thanks to $29m of state tax credits over the next ten years.
Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Norma Norma on Feb 04, 2011

    May be next up is Outlander or, even, Lancer 'Made in the U.S.A.' Haha.

  • Trend-Shifter Trend-Shifter on Feb 05, 2011

    If Mexico continues to be more unstable, the US may even see more manufacturing production come back. I read a recent Bloomberg Business Week magazine that said the US government is touting Afghanistan as a future business/manufacturing destination. Sheesh, our own government selling out the US worker after all they have been through. Hopefully a weak dollar, a productive skilled work force, and rule of law can triumph to bring in additional foreign investment instead of chasing the lowest wage. Now let's tell that to our own government!

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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