Mitsubishi Motors North America — BrandWiki

Mitsubishi Motors North America

Overview

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.

type	Subsidiary
foundation	1981
location	4031 Aspen Grove Drive, Suite 700, Franklin, TN 37067, United States
key people	Mark Chaffin, President and CEO‡R1R‡
industry	Automotive
products	Automobiles, auto parts
services	Sales, R&D, Financing, repairs
parent	Mitsubishi Motors (100%)
subsid	Mitsubishi Motors R&D of America, Inc. (MRDA) Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada, Inc. (MMSCAN)
homepage	mitsubishicars.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

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 ($0 in dollars ) Tredia sedan, the $7,000 ($0 in dollars ) Cordia, and $12,000 ($0 in dollars ) Starion coupes, followed shortly by the Mighty Max pickup truck, and were sold through 70 dealers in 22 states.[3]

1980s: Diamond-Star Motors

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

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

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

2010s: Turnaround begins

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 as Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, to focus more on the growing Asian market. Complete car production at the plant ended in November 2015; the plant kept producing replacement parts until its final closure in May 2016. Electric carmaker Rivian Motors has taken over the facility.[18] The last model to be built by Mitsubishi in their Normal plant was the

Mitsubishi Motors North America

History

1980s: Diamond-Star Motors

1990s: Fastest growing U.S. brand

2000s: Decline and expansion

2010s: Turnaround begins

Sales

Current vehicle lineup

SUVs

Past notable vehicles

Controversies

External links

References