Mitsubishi is faced with an unforeseen crisis. Mitsubishi seems to be running out of options and are deciding on calling it a day and closing shop as far as Europe is concerned. The auto making giant is facing an unprecedented turn of events. Once a booming car manufacturing unit, it is quickly sinking into oblivion. If the state of inaction continues, Mitsubishi’s existence from the European market would turn non-existent. The European plant is at the brink of a complete shutdown and the company’s production coming to a grinding halt. The Japanese car manufacturers are brainstorming through other options, to prevent the collapse of the automotive giants in the European continent.
The car makers have been having a tough time at Maastricht in Netherlands, for quite some time. The company had been running into steep road blocks due to a number of reasons. The cars in production in the Netherland plant, the Mitsubishi Outlander and Mitsubishi Colt, haven’t been faring well in the international market; hence demand for units has substantially decreased. Moreover the plant is facing havoc due to exponential increase in labor costs. Given the car industry being a labor intensive industry, a high cost does become detrimental to the company’s growth. The car manufacturers were able to churn out less than 50000 units last year, which is quite a dismal performance given the high production elsewhere. Ironically, the car manufacturers had plans to bring into production a new model, but due to the change in circumstances, the plans of such an outing have come to an abrupt end. It will be sometime, before any Mitsubishi new model sees the light of day.
Mitsubishi is trying to take all measures to prevent the ship from sinking. The car makers are looking into potential buyers to save them from heavy losses. Mitsubishi is looking for luck and vying for a similar outcome of their plant to that of what happened in 1970’s. The car manufactures, the NedCar, Mitsubishi’s Dutch subsidiary initially produced cars for the mother industry and as well as for the Swedish car manufacturer’s. The plant used to produce the Volvo for the Swedes. Now back in the 1970s, Volvo production house decided to take over the plant from the Japanese to increase the production of the Volvo.
Now with Mitsubishi and their dealerships in jeopardy, it will be intriguing how the car market of Europe and elsewhere shapes up. If Mitsubishi doesn’t end up with resilience enough to get them out of the muck, we may see a great upheaval in the world car market. The collapse of an automobile giant would create a noticeable dent in the industry. Back here in India, Mitsubishi has just one plant at Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu. Since Mitsubishi produces the same model, the Outlander, which is under threat of extinction, any chance of reviving the automotive industry with aid from Japanese manufacturer’s Indian ownerships is improbable, and ridiculous to say the least.
