Mitsubishi Will Build SUV At Illinois Plant
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) Mitsubishi Motors North America said Friday that it will begin production of a new SUV crossover at its plant in Normal, Illinois, next year, promising to keep the facility open less than a month after its 1,100 union employees agreed to wage concessions.
The state of Illinois said it will give the company $29 million in tax incentives as it begins production of the new Outlander Sport.
The new vehicles, which Mitsubishi started making late last year, will replace four existing models now made at the Normal plant that will be phased out, Mitsubishi Motors North America President Shinichi Kurihara said Friday at the plant. “Mitsubishi Motors remains fully committed to producing vehicles in Normal,” he said. “We will build vehicles here not just for the United States, but for many nations around the world.”
The facility’s 1,100 union workers in December agreed to cut their pay by $1.67 an hour, a concession Mitsubishi said it needed to keep the plant open. The plant now makes the Galant, Eclipse and Spyder and the Endeavor sport utility vehicle. All four will be phased out over the next few years, though no timetable has been set.
The plant was built in 1988 and has 1,300 employees, about half of whom commute from surrounding communities and as far away as Peoria and Champaign, the company has said.
Like most of the auto industry, Mitsubishi North America has struggled with slow sales. The Cypress, Calif.-based subsidiary of Tokyo’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. saw its U.S. market share slip to one half of one percent in 2009 the lowest level since 1985, according to WardsAuto.com, a website that tracks auto industry data.
A key Illinois Democrat used Friday’s announcement as an opportunity to jab at the chorus of critics who have complained that Illinois’ recent income tax increase discourages economic growth. Those critics include leaders in other states, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who have openly encouraged businesses to leave Illinois over the higher taxes they’ll pay if they remain.
“Illinois has reformed its pension system, enacted spending limits, recruited and retained key businesses and put itself back on track for stability and prosperity,” state Senate President John Cullerton said. “Compare that to New Jersey where the governor is spending more of the people’s money promoting himself in the Illinois media than he is on his state’s underfunded pension systems.”
Mitsubishi on Friday also said it will loan the state of Illinois what it called a small number of battery-powered electric vehicles to try out as part of the state’s fleet, and will work with the state to try to promote the use of electric vehicles. The company loaned the state of California two cars last year in a similar arrangement.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/mitsubishi-will-build-suv-at-illinois-plant.html
