The addition of the Outlander Sport (aka ASX, RVR) to Mitsubishi’s US plant will provide a useful volume boost to a plant whose output has plummeted in recent years.
Mitsubishi is to modernise its factory in Normal, Illinois and start production of about 50,000 Outlanders a year from 2012, exporting half.
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Mitsubishi is investing US$45m in new tooling and equipment with a further US$55m being put in by suppliers. The state of Illinois is providing about US$29m of support for the investment.
The factory currently assembles the Galant, Eclipse coupe, Spyder convertible and Endeavor SUV at Normal while the Outlander is currently imported from Japan.
Output at the factory, which opened in 1988 as a joint venture between Mitsubishi and the former Chrysler, has fallen in the past eight years, to about 31,000 units last year from 204,234 in 2002. The slide reflects Mitsubishi’s US sales, 55,683 last year, down from 345,111 in 2002.
The plant has 1,300 employees and runs a single production shift, with capacity to make 135,000 vehicles a year.
However, the future of the current models appears limited. Announcing the investment, Mitsubishi Motors North America president Shinichi Kurihara said: “With the new model, the plant will have better utilisation, and, of course we will see improved efficiency when we eventually consolidate to one model with higher production volume. I fully expect this plant will strongly improve its performance further down the road.”
