Mitsubishi cutting more American workers

[Buick61]

Associated Press--


Struggling to negotiate plunging sales, bad credit losses and recall scandals, Mitsubishi Motors is planning to reduce about 1,200 employees from its only U.S. plant this fall as part of a global reorganization plan.

The Japanese automaker announced Wednesday it would trim about a third of the jobs at its central Illinois plant, cutting production from two shifts to one in October. The Normal, Ill. plant currently employs more than 3,100 workers.

The company, which has about $9 billion of debt on its books, has already announced it would trim nearly a quarter of its global work force over the next three years.

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[awalbert88]

I'm not sure if I'll mourn the loss of Mitsubishi from the playing field when they go under (short of a miracle, I don't see any other outcome for MM). The LanEvo and rally cars are really all they've had going for them. Everything else has largely been unimpressive and poorly built.

[ByTheLake]

While sales have dropped for Mitsubishi, they still have nearly matched Lincoln in 2004.

Through the end of June, Mitsubishi has outsold Infiniti, Jaguar, and Audi. If they can stop the bleeding, they stand a chance. If not, Mistubishi will fold.

[stewacide]

Infiniti, Jaguar, Audi, etc. are making FAR more money per-vehicle than Mitsu', which is a volume manufacturer.

This is really sad. The new Gallant and Endevour SHOULD be big hits. The products planners trageted them perfectly IMHO - the problem is Mitsu' has fallen off people's radar and the weak marketing of late hasn't done anything to change that.

I don't think there's much chance of Mitsu' going under entirely (they do very well in Europe and mainland Asia), but with sales in a nosedive in Japan and North America I could see them dropping out of those markets (to fucus on small cars for Europe and the developing world).

[Hudson]

What's the world coming to? I agree with Stew. People, especially on this site, are counting Mitsubishi out prematurely. It's not going away soon...no matter how bad it may look recently, Mitsubishi will find money and will continue building and selling vehicles. DaimlerChrysler decided not to invest further...banks and other investors will provide money for a few more losing seasons before they need to call it quits. My money's on Mitsubishi surviving or being absorbed, maybe by Proton or Hyundai.

[AJR]

The jury is still out whether Mitsubishi can keep it going. You can't count it out, but Mitsubishi's stuggles will be even harder in this most intense auto market. I think, like Hudson said, that Mitsubishi will probably wind up being asorbed at some point. Hyundai may not be a bad partner as both are basically escapees from the Daimler institute and they both did some work together.

[Hudson]

While I think Hyundai is probably the leading candidate if/when Mitsubishi Motors were to go on the block, I also think it's quite ironic. Mitsubishi helped launch Hyundai and Hyundai would return the favor by asborbing it? The child becoming the parent.

[thecarguy]

While the Japanese government and banks will prop up Mitsu, I am not optimistic about their future in North America. Sales are tanking and they really don't have any good new future product coming out. The new Eclipse alone cannot hold up Mitsu. I think that they might have to pull out of NA in the near future.

[stewacide]

The Mitsubishi bank is like the ~5th largest in the world, so they can probably get all the money they'd want there. The question is could any amount of money and the resulting products cure Mitsu' bad reputation and total lack of direction? I'm thinking not...

[yoblues]

Don't jump off the boat just yet. I remember people saying the same bleep about Nissan three years ago. I look at it this way as an enthusiast. GM has nothing, NOTHING like the EVO in it's lineup. Even if Mitsu goes under MOPAR is going to have something like the EVO in it's lineup. ARE YOU LISTENING GM? NO? I did not think so, you never do.