Mitsubishi will increase exports from its US factory as part of efforts to further optimise production on a global scale, reports the Nikkei business newspaper in Japan.
The company recently began shipping SUVs from its plant in Illinois to Russia, Central and South America and the Middle East. The factory can assemble some 70,000 vehicles annually, and Mitsubishi Motors expects to export up to half that volume this year.
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The Nikkei noted that the carmaker had been exporting SUVs from its Japanese plants and selling most US-made vehicles locally. But by using the US site as an export base, the automaker aims to boost capacity utilisation there and improve profitability. Its Japanese factories, meanwhile, will focus on producing minicars and other vehicles.
Mitsubishi withdrew from European production at Born in The Nethberlands in December. It is shipping Mirage subcompacts to Japan from Thailand and has positioned that country as an export hub for surrounding Southeast Asian nations. In addition, it has begun assembling Outlander SUVs in Russia.
