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Mitsubishi Motors North America

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Mitsubishi Motors
North America, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1981; 43 years ago (1981)
Headquarters4031 Aspen Grove Drive, Suite 700, Franklin, TN 37067, United States
Key people
Mark Chaffin, President and CEO[1]
ProductsAutomobiles, auto parts
ServicesSales, R&D, Financing, repairs
ParentMitsubishi Motors (100%)
SubsidiariesMitsubishi Motors R&D of America, Inc. (MRDA)
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada, Inc. (MMSCAN)
Websitemitsubishicars.com

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. is the U.S. operation of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, overseeing sales and research and development functions. The company manufactures and sells Mitsubishi brand cars and sport utility vehicles through a network of approximately 350 dealers.

Its administrative headquarters is in Franklin, Tennessee,[2] while the Mitsubishi Motors R&D of America, Inc. (MRDA) head office is in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

History

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MMNA was formed in 1981 after tensions arose between Mitsubishi and its then U.S. import partner, the Chrysler Corporation, over conflicts in the international subcompact market, leading the ambitious Japanese company to establish its own sales network.[3] The first year's allocation of 30,000 vehicles in 1982 were the $6,500 Tredia sedan, and the $7,000 Cordia and $12,000 Starion coupes, followed shortly by the Mighty Max pickup truck, and were sold through 70 dealers in 22 states.[3]

1980s: Diamond-Star Motors

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Diamond-Star Motors Logo

The Diamond-Star Motors joint venture with Chrysler in Normal, Illinois, began in 1985, as American-built cars would not be subject to the same restrictive quotas as vehicles imported from Japan. The company sold 67,000 cars in the United States in 1987, but by the time the new factory came onstream the next year, it offered a capacity of 240,000 vehicles. With this new capacity, Mitsubishi made a fresh push to expand its U.S. operation in 1989, increasing its sales network by 40 percent to 340 dealerships and producing its first nationwide advertising campaign.

1990s: Fastest growing U.S. brand

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1991 was a landmark year for Mitsubishi in the United States. It bought Chrysler's share of Diamond-Star for $100 million, and became the first Japanese owner of a U.S. car rental agency when it purchased Value Rent-a-Car[4] Sales of Mitsubishi-badged vehicles reached almost 190,000.[3] The remainder of the 1990s provided both ups and downs for MMNA. The rising yen and a weak global economy caused a drop in production and profits, but it weathered the storm better than its Japanese competitors.

While its global operations were suffering in the wake of the 1997 East Asian financial crisis, MMNA reported banner results, breaking its sales records every year between 1999 and 2002 and seeing growth of 81 percent to 345,000 vehicles, while the company improved its position in Harbour and Associates' Assembly Productivity Ranking from last to first.[5][6] At this point Mitsubishi was the fastest growing auto brand in the United States.[7]

2000s: Decline and expansion

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In 2002 MMNA expanded to Canada and Puerto Rico. Troubles began to emerge in 2003. One of the roots of their rapid growth was a "0–0–0" finance offer—zero percent down, zero percent interest, and nothing per month (repayments deferred for 12 months)—aimed at increasing MMNA's annual sales to 500,000 vehicles. However, numerous credit-risky buyers ended up defaulting at the end of the year's "grace period", leaving Mitsubishi with used vehicles for which they'd received no money and which were now worth less than they cost to manufacture.[8][9] The company's U.S. credit operation was forced to make a $454 million provision against its 2003 accounts as a result of these losses.[10]

In the wake of this, as well as a Japanese recall cover-up scandal, sales plummeted from 2003 to 2005,.[11] New introductions had mixed success, with the Outlander and Eclipse models showing sales growth in 2006, but the Endeavor SUV failing to meet expectations. In 2005, MMNA partnered with Chrysler to introduce the first "imported" pickup truck, the Mitsubishi Raider, based largely on the Dodge Dakota. It was built at Chrysler's Warren, Michigan plant, then shipped to the Normal plant for Mitsubishi upfitting and badging. A new Lancer compact car debuted in 2007,[12] and in an effort to exploit unused capacity at its Normal, Illinois, plant more Galant sedans were produced for the export market.[13] In 2008 Puerto Rico operations were moved to their Central and South America region division.

2010s: Turnaround begins

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Mitsubishi's North American R&D facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2010

2015 was a record setting year for MMNA, selling five million vehicles to date and 95,342 for the year in the United States, continuing a streak of 22 consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases and a 23 percent sales increase over the previous year.[14][15] Additionally many changes were made in 2015; MMNA ended their captive finance subsidiary Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America, Inc. (MMCA).[16][17]

In July, MMNA announced that they would be closing their sole North American production facility in Normal, Illinois, known Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America which built the Outlander Sport model, to focus more on the growing Asian market. Production at the plant ended in November 2015, and the plant produced replacement parts until final closure in May 2016. Electric carmaker Rivian Motors has taken over the facility.[18] Currently, Mitsubishi is still selling cars in North America, but has since retired the Lancer Evolution.[19]

Former administrative headquarters in Cypress, California, pictured in 2019

2016 was another big year for MMNA as the Mirage, Lancer, Outlander and RVR/Outlander Sport were all refreshed in addition to releasing the Mirage sedan (G4). This contributed to increased year end sales, the largest retail sales year ever in Canada and the 4th consecutive year of sales growth in the United States. In Canada the Lancer had the largest year-over-year increase at 9.4% followed by the RVR at 7% and Outlander at 3.5%.[20] In the United States the Outlander drove the largest sales increases year-over-year at 39.5% followed by the Mirage at 3.3%.[21]

On June 25, 2019, Mitsubishi Motors announced it would be moving its North American headquarters from Cypress, California, to Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.[22] Sister company Nissan USA also has its North American headquarters in the city.

In June 2020, speculation began that Mitsubishi may scale back its presence in North America despite sales growth or possibly withdraw altogether as part of a larger Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance plan that will see Mitsubishi focus more on Southeast Asia and Oceania while Nissan focuses more on North America, Japan and China and Renault focuses on Europe.[23]

On March 9, 2022, Mark Chaffin named president and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Motors North America, replacing Yoichi Yokozawa. Yokozawa, appointed to the role in March 2020 until March 2022, it was return to Mitsubishi Motors headquarters in Tokyo and take on a new regional management role. Chaffin was officially appointed as President and CEO on April 1, 2022.[1]

Sales

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Year Canada United States Total
2000 - 314,417 314,417
2001 - 322,393 322,393
2002 ? 360,149 360,149+
2003 ? 237,548 237,548+
2004 10,783 127,359 138,142
2005 10,391 99,600 109,991
2006 10,957 107,640 118,597
2007 16,759 106,719 123,478
2008 18,639 67,910 86,549
2009 19,786 39,970 59,756
2010 19,504 55,683 75,187
2011 20,511 79,020 99,531
2012 19,671 57,790 77,461
2013 21,104 62,227 83,331
2014 22,704 77,643 100,347
2015 21,384 95,342 116,726
2016 22,293 96,267 118,560
2017 22,706 103,686 126,392
2018 25,237 118,074 143,311
2019 25,535 121,046 146,581
2020 16,092 87,387 103,479

Sources: [15] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]
NOTE: Mexico sales are not included, because distribution and sales are handled by FCA Mexico.[44]

Current vehicle lineup

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Cars

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Mirage

SUVs

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Eclipse Cross
Outlander
Outlander PHEV
Outlander Sport

Past notable vehicles

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3000GT

1990-1999

Eclipse

1990-2012

Galant

1989-2012

Lancer

2002-2017

Lancer Evolution

2003-2015

Montero

1990-2006

Raider

2006-2009

Controversies

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In 1994 MMNA was the subject of two lawsuits brought against it. The first, filed by 29 women in December 1994, accused the company of fostering a climate of sexual harassment at its Normal, Illinois plant. Then, in April 1996 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a class action suit on behalf of approximately 300 other women who worked at the plant. Mitsubishi initially denied any problems at its plant but later hired former U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Morley Martin to recommend changes to its policies and practices. The 1994 suit was settled for $9.5 million in August 1997, and an agreement with the EEOC was reached later that year as well.[45]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mitsubishi Motors North America Names Mark Chaffin as President And CEO". Mitsubishi Motors North America Newsroom. 9 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors North America to Relocate U.S. Headquarters to". Bloomberg.com. 26 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Mitsubishi Motors Corporation", Funding Universe
  4. ^ "If They Rent, They May Buy", TIME Magazine, May 14, 1990
  5. ^ "Finbarr O'Neill Resigns From Mitsubishi Motors North America Mitsubishi Motors Executive Rich Gilligan Appointed to President and CEO Position", AutoChannel.com, January 4, 2005
  6. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. - Manufacturing Division", Mitsubishi Motors North America website
  7. ^ ""Mitsubishi Motors"" (PDF). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-University of North Carolina. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-08.
  8. ^ "Can Mitsubishi Pull out of its Skid?", Brian Bremner and Christopher Palmeri, BusinessWeek, September 29, 2003
  9. ^ "It's the Dealers, Stupid!", Steve Findlay, Ward's Dealer Business, September 1, 2004
  10. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Announces First-Half FY 2003 Results, Gives Forecast for Full-Year FY 2003" Archived 2004-04-16 at the Wayback Machine Mitsubishi Motors press release, November 11, 2003
  11. ^ "MMNA sales down 4% in 2006" [dead link‍], Scott Miller, The Pantagraph, January 5, 2007
  12. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors to give new Lancer compact sport sedan global premiere at 2007 Detroit Motor Show" Archived 2007-02-12 at the Wayback Machine Mitsubishi Motors press release, December 11, 2006
  13. ^ "Mitsubishi's turnaround hinges on new models, worker mindset", Yuzo Yamaguchi, The Detroit News, October 31, 2005
  14. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Achieves Five Million Vehicle Sales in the United States". mitsubishicars.com. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Mitsubishi Motors Closes 2015 Up Over 22 Percent For The Year". mitsubishicars.com. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Taps Ally on Finance". 2015-04-27.
  17. ^ "Ally to take over Mitsubishi's U.S. lending arm". 2015-04-27.
  18. ^ "Union workers say goodbye to 27 years at Mitsubishi plant". 2015-11-30. Archived from the original on 2015-12-02.
  19. ^ "Report: Mitsubishi to Close U.S. Production Facility". Archived from the original on 2015-07-25.
  20. ^ "Mitsubishi Closes 2016 with Best Retail Sales Ever". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Closes 2016 With 4th Consecutive Year Of Annual Sales Growth". mitsubishicars.com. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors headquarters relocating to Franklin, bringing 200 jobs". 2019-06-25. Archived from the original on 2019-06-26.
  23. ^ "Mitsubishi Could End up Dialing Down Its Efforts in the U.S." 22 June 2020.
  24. ^ "Facts & Figures 2005" Archived 2007-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Facts & Figures 2008" Archived 2009-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "Facts & Figures 2010" Archived 2012-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Ends 2014 with Dramatic Sales Increase". mitsubishicars.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Reports Its Fifth Consecutive Year Of Sales Growth". mitsubishicars.com. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Reports Best Annual Sales Since 2007, Best December Since 2006". mitsubishicars.com. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  30. ^ "MITSUBISHI MOTORS REPORTS BEST ANNUAL SALES SINCE 2007". mitsubishicars.com. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  31. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors reports fourth quarter, full calendar year 2020 sales". mitsubishicars.com. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  32. ^ "Mitsubishi Reports Record Year". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  33. ^ "Mitsubishi Reports 6.2 Percent Increase For 2009". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  34. ^ "Wrapping up 2010; RVR and Outlander power Mitsubishi sales to record December". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  35. ^ "Record December powers Mitsubishi to best year ever". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  36. ^ "Mitsubishi Sets All-Time Sales Record in 2013 : RVR leaps to best-seller status". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  37. ^ "Mitsubishi Sets New Sales Record in 2014". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  38. ^ "Outlander Drives Best Retail Sales Year for Mitsubishi". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  39. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Closes 2017 with Best Sales Ever". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  40. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Closes 2018 With Best Sales Ever". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  41. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Closes 2019 with Best Sales Year Ever". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  42. ^ "Mitsubishi Motors Canada Reports End of Quarter and End of Calendar Year Results". www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  43. ^ "Mitsubishi Brand Sales Figures -". goodcarbadcar.net. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  44. ^ "FCA México Reporta Incremento en Ventas de 11% en Diciembre de 2015; Mejor Diciembre desde 2010 y desde 2009". 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  45. ^ "MMNA and EEOC reach voluntary agreement to settle harassment suit", EEOC press release, June 11, 1998
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