Mitsubishi to invest US$100 million in U.S. plant

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will invest about US$100 million in its existing plant in Normal, Ill., U.S.A., to produce the Outlander Sports that the Japanese carmaker has positioned as its global strategic vehicle. The firm plans to launch production of the sport utility vehicle in mid-2012. Annual production is projected at 50,000 units, of which some 50% will be exported to such regions as Latin America, Russia and the Middle East. Output totaled about 23,000 vehicles in fiscal 2009 that ended last March. With the investment, the automaker hopes to raise the capacity utilization rate at the plant to improve earnings. (February 5, 2011)