Mitsubishi Motors Corp’s factory in Thailand will see an increase in production following the Japanese automaker’s decision to close down operations in the United States.
Mitsubishi has decided to withdraw from vehicle production in the US as part of its efforts to focus more on growing Asian markets, sources close to the matter said Friday.
Instead, the carmaker will shift more resources to its Asian plants including those in Thailand and the Philippines, the sources said.
Tokyo-based automaker plans to sell its plant in Illinois where the company currently manufactures about 60,000 sport utility vehicles a year, they said.
Mitsubishi also withdrew from Europe in 2012, but still manufactures SUVs in Russia.
With three plants in Laem Chabang on the Eastern Seaboard, Mitsubishi has a maximum capacity of 500,000 units per year here, with Thailand ranking the company's second-largest production centre globally after Japan.