LexusLuver

Mitsubishi Motors asks Toyota to hire workers
Reuters / July 13, 2004

TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said on Tuesday it had asked Toyota Motor Corp. to hire workers from one of its domestic car plants and help parts suppliers that will be hit by the factory's planned closure.

"The talks with Toyota were started as Mitsubishi Motors intends to introduce potential local employers to workers who wish to look for a new job rather than relocate," MMC said in a statement.

Negotiations with Toyota began on Tuesday, and the companies aim to finalize plans by the end of this month, it added.

The Okazaki plant, scheduled to shut down at the end of next year, is located near several of Toyota's factories in Aichi prefecture, central Japan.

Mitsubishi is struggling to rebuild itself after 37 percent-owner DaimlerChrysler AG abandoned plans to rescue it earlier this year, while sales have tumbled further on a series of revelations of cover ups of vehicle defects.

It brought forward plans the Okazaki plant closure by a year as part of an effort to speed up its restructuring process.

Mitsubishi did not say how many of the 1,600 plant workers it would ask Toyota to take on, but Takashi Nishioka, chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., told the Nihon Keizai business daily in an interview Toyota may hire some 200-300 workers from the plant.

Mitsubishi Heavy is a major shareholder in Mitsubishi Motors.

Toyota, the world's second-largest carmaker, declined to comment on whether it would help the suppliers. It has said it is looking into the possibility of absorbing some jobs at the plant in consideration of the impact on the local economy.

Mitsubishi has said that four-fifths of the workers would be transferred to its Mizushima plant in western Japan, while the rest will be redistributed to a nearby plant that makes the Pajero model and two engine plants.

Mitsubishi's vehicle sales excluding mini-vehicles sank 64 percent in June from the year earlier, while sales in the United States slid 48 percent.

Given the poor performance, the government announced on Tuesday it would boost financial assistance to Mitsubishi's subcontractors and dealers, doubling credit guarantees to 560 million yen ($5.17 million).

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

I think that Mitsubishi using Toyota's help will be a good move for them. Not too sure about the design dept. Seems like Mitsubishi has been ripping off the designs from almost every auto maker out there:

Endeavor == Jeep Grand Cherokee
Galant == Current Maxima
Previous Galant == previous gen. BMWs 325s
2004 Sportback == Volvo Wagon

Anyone can jump in to do the comparisons.

sorry, no pix to compare side by side.

-J-P-L-

I think design/styling is Mitsubishi's biggest problem right now. Their lineup includes only a couple of OK designs. The rest is ugly at best. The Galant should be their bread and butter car and they totally screwed
it up. The Endeaver is simply ooogly. Sadly, the Evolution is one of the only models that gets my attention.

mmarshall

Well, the Evo, as the Sti's primary competitor, obviously gets attention in the auto press and from among auto enthusiasts like us in these forums, but let's face it.....both of these cars are very low-production niche products whose numbers (and profits) are literally next-to-nothing when you are talking about a large corporation like Mitsubishi and its necessity of generating enough sales and income to stay in buisness. And it certainly doesn't help, either, that most of the company's top management appears headed for the Department of Corrections and will end up making their OWN license plates.
You are correct that the Galant is one of its bread-and-butter products....along with the Eclipse, traditionally Mitsubishi's best seller. The Galant's problem is essentially the same as the Mazda 6, Nissan Altima, Chevy Malibu, and a number of other mid-sized cars.....the Camry and Accord have dominated the family-sedan market for so long due to their high reputations that is is exceedingly difficult for their comptition to make any real inroads, although the Altima lately has had some success.
It's too early to say for sure whether Mitsubishi will follow Plymouth and Oldsmobile, but its future at this point certainly doesn't look good.