NedCar – the Dutch manufacturing arm of Mitsubishi Motors in Europe – has signed contract manufacturing agreements with Mitsubishi Motor Sales Europe B.V. (MMSE) and MCC smart.
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These agreements set the general framework of cooperation among the parties and NedCar, as well as the general rules for carrying out the production of compact cars built at the plant in Born for both MMSE and MCC smart.
NedCar will be the contracted manufacturer for these vehicles, with production due to start in 2004, under the Mitsubishi and smart brand names and identities.
“NedCar is key to Mitsubishi#;s turnaround in Europe. This is a major milestone in the history of this plant and all parties involved have worked real well to reach an excellent solution,” said MMSE president & CEO Stefan Jacoby.
The agreements come a year after Volvo Car Corporation transferred its 50 percent interest in the Dutch operation to then-NedCar partner, Mitsubishi.
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By GlobalData
At the time, NedCar said it would subsequently lose the replacement for Volvo’s S40/V40 mid-range – currently built alongside Mitsubishi#;s Carisma and Space Star models – but would gain a new DaimlerChrysler model.
Following its acquisition of Volvo Cars in 1999, Ford looked for a suitable alternative to NedCar for the production of the mid-sized S40/V40 range cars on the P1 platform and decided to make the replacement model at Volvo’s Ghent, Belgium, plant. The next model goes into production in 2003 and will be part of Ford’s generic lower medium car programme.
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation president and CEO T. Sonobe said at the time: “The acquisition of this factory is a basis for our future joint production of the ‘Z car’ with DaimlerChrysler. NedCar is and will remain an important basis for our European operation.”
NedCar president Chris Dewulf said a year ago that the share transfer would make no difference to the NedCar organisation.
“NedCar will continue to do what we were already doing, and that is the assembly and delivery of cars and components of top quality, at agreed competitive prices and at the agreed time to our customers with optimal flexibility.
“Our customers will remain the same until some time in 2004. The only significant change is that we will have a new customer, DaimlerChrysler. As stated earlier, the so-called ‘Z-car project’, one of the major joint projects in the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation/ DaimlerChrysler alliance, is to be built at NedCar with an annual volume of approximately 250,000 cars”.
