Mitsubishi Autos to Be Built in U.S.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said today that it has agreed with Chrysler Corp. on a plan to build Mitsubishi cars in the United States and hopes to start in the second half of 1988.
Chrysler Chairman Lee A. Iacocca and Mitsubishi President Toyoo Tate signed a memorandum of understanding today on forming a joint venture, to be equally owned by the two companies, to produce a new small car in a Midwestern state, Mitsubishi said in a statement.
A formal joint-venture agreement is to be signed after details are worked out, it said.
The plant, with a capacity of 180,000 cars a year, will employ about 2,500 workers at full capacity, the memorandum said.
8,800 to Supply Materials
In a separate statement, Chrysler said an additional 8,800 jobs will be created in the auto industry to supply materials for the new operation.
“The plant site will be decided jointly by both (Mitsubishi) and Chrysler after thorough evaluation of financial and other pertinent factors, including incentives to be offered by those states” in which plant sites are being considered, it said. It did not name any of the states.
Mitsubishi will take the lead in day-to-day operations of the joint venture and in designing and building the plant, and will be responsible for engineering the new car, the statement said. Mitsubishi and Chrysler will jointly approve the car’s styling, it said.
The car will be distributed through Chrysler and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc., Mitsubishi said.
Illinois, Indiana or Ohio
The statement did not give the estimated cost of the new plant, but the Japanese economic newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported it at $398.4 million. It said the plant will be built in Illinois, Indiana or Ohio.
Mitsubishi also said Chrysler group companies would increase their holding in Mitsubishi Motors from the present 15% to 24% “to strengthen the cooperative relationship . . . between (Mitsubishi) and Chrysler.”
The new joint venture would make Mitsubishi the fifth Japanese auto maker to make cars in the United States.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. was the first, building its first car in 1982 in Ohio. General Motors and Toyota Motor Corp. recently began production in California. Nissan Motor Co. produced its first car last month in Tennessee, and Mazda Motor Corp., 25% owned by Ford Motor Co., plans to break ground this spring for a new plant in Flat Rock south of Detroit.
Iacocca arrived in Tokyo on Saturday for a six-day visit.
