A Mitsubishi Motors Europe (MME) spokesman on Wednesday night insisted the automaker had still made no final decisions on Russian production despite earlier reports in Japan that said SUV production would start there in 2010.
Citing “sources at the company”, Russian news agency Itar-Tass had reported earlier on Wednesday that Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) planned to begin production of sport utility vehicles in Russia from 2010.
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“We are still in the process of studying feasibility of local production in Russia,” MME spokesman Daniel Nacass told just-auto by email from the European Lancer sedan media launch in Sardinia.
“However, as of today, no final decisions have been made,” he added.
Itar-Tass added that its sources had also said MMC plans to announce its official decision on building its own plant in Russia before 25 December.
Nacass and senior MME executives have repeatedly told just-auto in recent months that no decision was expected before the end of this year.
Mitsubishi is likely to build its Russian plant near Saint Petersburg, Itar-Tass said, citing Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei.
The news agency noted that Toyota has completed building a plant near Saint Petersburg [to build the Camry] while Nissan Motor is also building an assembly plant near the city and Suzuki Motor, has signed an agreement to build its own plant in the area. Ford is already well established there though its plant, which primarily builds the European Focus model, is currently embroiled in a strike over wage rates and night shift length.
Citing the Nikkei, Itar-Tass said Mitsubishi Motor planned to start production in Russia in cooperation with PSA Peugeot Citroen, making an investment of over $US180m. At the initial stage, the company plans to produce 20,000 – 30,000 SUVs per year, primarily the currently Japan-sourced Outlander model [which will next year go into production at Mitsubishi’s Nedcar plant in the Netherlands where MME is based].
MME said earlier this year that the Netherlands Outlander output would be for European markets only and not for Ukraine or Russia, whose national sales organisations were recently removed from MME control and now report direct to MMC. MMC, meanwhile, builds Citroen- and Peugeot-badged derivatives of the Outlander at a plant in Japan for PSA to sell, primarily in Europe.
Building all three versions with PSA in Russia for the local markets would reduce pressure on the MMC plants in Japan and MME’s Nedcar facility which could then concentrate on meeting demand for the popular compact crossover SUVs in the rest of the world.
MMC is also considering the possibility of producing Lancer sedans in Russia, the Japanese reports said.
Mitsubishi plans to increase its market share in Russia this year by 50% to 150,000 vehicles, Itar-Tass added.
Graeme Roberts
