Mitsubishi Motors Corp

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. closed its vehicle design center in Cypress this week, the latest move by an automaker to cut design costs. The closing, which eliminated about 30 jobs, comes as Mitsubishi is consolidating its design work at its corporate headquarters in Tokyo. A Mitsubishi design center in Germany will remain open, but with a greatly reduced staff.

Mitsubishi Weighs Auto Venture: The Japanese auto maker said it may build cars at a joint-venture plant in Vietnam where it is already assembling minibuses. A Mitsubishi Motors Corp. spokesman said the compact cars that are being built with Proton, Malaysia's national car maker, are among the candidates for the models to be assembled in Vietnam. Proton, which builds compact cars with technical input from Mitsubishi, is also a partner in the Vietnamese joint venture, Vina Star Motors Corp.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which sees the success of its new Lancer sedan as critical to reversing a dramatic slump in its U.S. sales, already faces a handicap as it prepares to launch the compact car in March. Competing in a segment in which gas mileage usually figures prominently in buyers' decisions, the 2008 Lancer will be the first vehicle to be rated under tough new federal fuel economy standards scheduled to be announced today.

Financially ailing Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has promoted the head of its Illinois-based U.S. auto making unit to chairman and chief executive of all U.S. operations. Hirao Iijima, 57, will assume the new duties at Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors America Inc. at the end of June. Reporting to Iijima will be Pierre Gagnon, 45, newly promoted president and chief operating officer of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, and Rich Gilligan, 57, new president of Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it would cut its U.S. production and slash 1,200 jobs to reduce losses. Japan's fourth-largest automaker said it would cut jobs at its sole U.S. assembly plant in Normal, Ill., and cut capacity in the plant by 22%. The plant employs 3,150 workers. Mitsubishi is struggling to rebuild itself after its partner DaimlerChrysler abandoned plans to rescue it this year. Mitsubishi's revenue has plummeted recently after a series of vehicle defect cover-ups and its U.S.

Mitsubishi May Buy Chrysler's Stake in Venture: Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will sign an agreement this month to take over Chrysler Corp.'s stake in their joint venture, Japan's leading economic daily reported. Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Japan's third-largest auto maker will buy the troubled U.S. firm's stake in Illinois-based Diamond Star Motors Corp. for $100 million. Diamond Star, established on an equal footing by the two companies in 1985, started production three years later.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it continued to bleed red ink in the first half of this fiscal year, battered by poor sales. Mitsubishi, Japan's fourth-largest auto maker and its top truck maker, said that in the fiscal half-year to Sept. 30 it lost $155 million, which is pretax and includes some nonoperating income, contrasted with a $148.3-million profit a year ago. The performance was far better than the $271.2-million loss the company forecast in May, Mitsubishi executives said.

Mitsubishi to Reduce Work Force: Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it will trim its white-collar work force of 1,400 employees by about 10% over the next five years in a campaign to control costs. A spokesman for the major Japanese auto maker said the staff reduction will be accomplished through attrition rather than layoffs. As the flip side of an expansion of their overseas production, many Japanese auto makers, including Nissan Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp.

Mitsubishi Motors May End Venture With Chrysler: The Japanese auto maker is considering dissolving its U.S. car production agreement with Chrysler Corp. by 1999, a Mitsubishi Motors Corp. official said. Mitsubishi produces about 100,000 cars a year for Chrysler at its Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America plant in Normal, Ill. A Mitsubishi spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mitsubishi Chairman Hirokazu Nakamura told Japanese reporters recently that if the U.S.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., once a shooting star among the smaller Japanese automakers fighting for space in the U.S. market, needs a hit. Badly. The company, beset by problems here and at home, has seen its U.S. sales plummet 64% from their high in 2002. Renowned at one time for cutting-edge design and technology, Mitsubishi was among the first automakers to use four-wheel steering and to offer a convertible sports car with a retractable hard top.

The battery-powered electric car isn't dead yet. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said in Tokyo today that it would introduce the third generation of its battery-powered electric car Oct. 23. The research vehicle will be tested by two Japanese power companies beginning in January. The car is based on Mitsubishi's popular four-seat mini-car, the i. Mitsubishi says the electric car has a top speed of 80 mph and can travel 80 to 100 miles on a single charge.

* Timothy Haight, dean of business at Cal State L.A., was appointed president of Menlo College, effective Jan. 1. The Atherton, Calif., school specializes in business management. * Ford Motor Co. ended production of the Mercury Monterey minivan after sales fell more than 45% this year and in 2005. * Union workers at Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s assembly plant in Normal, Ill.

Richard Gilligan said he was retiring as co-chief executive of the Cypress-based North American unit of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Gilligan, 62, has been Mitsubishi's top U.S. executive since January 2005, when he was brought in from Mitsubishi's Illinois assembly plant. His retirement, effective Friday, leaves Hiroshi Harunari, 58, in sole command.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., struggling to reverse three years of declining U.S. sales, eliminated about 5% of the staff at its U.S. headquarters and closed a regional office. The company cut 25 sales-related jobs from its North American headquarters in Cypress, the company said. The Tokyo-based automaker also closed its north-central region office in Chicago, transferring 16 employees to other sales districts.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday that it had appointed a Japanese executive to share the top post at its North American unit in an effort to bolster communication between the ailing automaker's key operations. Hiroshi Harunari, managing director of overseas operations for Tokyo-based Mitsubishi, will become president and chief executive of Mitsubishi Motors North America in Cypress on Jan. 1.

* 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.

DaimlerChrysler said Thursday that it wouldn't provide any more funds for its Mitsubishi Motors Corp. affiliate, a week before Japan's only unprofitable carmaker planned to outline a $6.4-billion revival package. The board of DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-biggest automaker, "decided not to participate in a capital increase planned by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and to cease further financial support," the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said in a statement to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

DaimlerChrysler on Friday sold its remaining 12.4% stake in struggling Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to Goldman Sachs for an undisclosed amount, ending an unsuccessful attempt to profit from the Japanese auto industry. The German-American automaker once owned 37% of Mitsubishi as part of a strategy to become a dominant international force in the industry. Five years ago, DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Juergen Schrempp paid at least $2.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. doesn't have hybrid cars or "employee discounts" for everyone, so it is banking on another ploy to win customers and help deplete dealers' stocks of 2005 models: free gasoline for all. Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America said it would provide buyers of most of its remaining '05 models prepaid gasoline debit cards worth $1,500 to $2,500 -- the value depends on the vehicle and whether it uses regular or premium gas. The program runs Friday through Oct. 31.