Mitsubishi ’s Normal, Illinois, factory, which began as a joint-venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler (then called Diamond Star Motors), has struggled of late, producing fewer than 100,000 cars annually. Yet over the weekend, Mitsubishi and the UAW agreed to a program that will keep the plant open until at least August 2012 in exchange for some pay cuts.
The plant has the capacity to produce nearly 1/4 of a million vehicles, but can be profitable if it produces over 100,000. The factory makes Mitsubishi’s Galant, Eclipse and Endeavor, none of which have posted strong sales in recent years.
Mitsubishi ’s president, Osamu Masuko, acknowledged the plant’s difficulties when he spoke to Automotive News recently.
“We are seriously re-evaluating our U.S. operations as to what kind of automobiles we should manufacture there, and eventually we hope to announce our decision,” Masuko said.
“It is very difficult to sell the kinds of cars we are producing in this factory.”
Masuko didn’t suggest what Mitsubishi might produce in the factory that would return it to profitability – and help bolster the struggling automaker’s slipping sales in the U.S. market.
