SOUTHLAND FOCUS

* Pushing forward with its five-year, $1.4-billion Project America plan, the Cypress-based U.S. arm of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it will start building its Montero Sport in the U.S. in 2003. The sport-utility vehicle will be built alongside Mitsubishi’s Galant mid-size sedan and Eclipse sports coupe and convertible models in Normal, Ill. The three vehicles, which share the same platform, are the Japanese auto maker’s core products for the U.S. market. Mitsubishi’s future in the U.S. will hinge on “vehicles that will be planned, designed, engineered and built here,” said Pierre Gagnon, chief operating officer for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America. Mitsubishi sold 59,007 Montero Sport models in the U.S. last year, up from 38,439 in 1998.