Posted on 05/29/2004 9:27:09 PM PDT by take
DaimlerChrysler to stop building Dodge, Chrysler cars in Normal
NORMAL, Ill. - DaimlerChrysler will stop building Dodge and Chrysler cars at Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s auto plant here in 2005, the company said Wednesday.
The decision comes at the end of a five-year agreement, and is not related to recent financial troubles at Mitsubishi Motors, plant spokesman Dan Irvin told The (Bloomington) Pantagraph.
"We knew we were building cars for them through June of next year," Irvin said. "There was not any plan to do anything after that."
Chrysler Group spokesman Dave Elshoff declined to say if the company would build other DaimlerChrysler vehicles at Mitsubishi Motors' only North American manufacturing facility.
"It does not have anything to do with the competitiveness of the work force in Normal or the quality the factory generates," Elshoff said.
The Normal plant produced 156,800 vehicles in the fiscal year that ended in March. Of those, 18,769 were Dodge Stratus cars and 9,966 were Chrysler Sebrings. The plant also produces the Galant, Eclipse and Endeavor for Mitsubishi.
The loss of the two vehicles has already been factored into decisions Mitsubishi officials have made about production goals and staffing needs at the car plant in light of the reorganization at its parent company, Irvin said.
Mitsubishi spared the jobs of more than 3,100 central Illinoisans last week in a revival plan that the cash-strapped company's chief executive described as "our last chance."
The Japanese automaker will cut about 11,000 jobs - nearly a quarter of its global work force - and shutter an engine plant in Australia and an assembly plant in Japan.
Mitsubishi also will receive a $4 billion infusion from its parent company and other investors as it tries to pare a $9 billion debt, caused by plunging car sales, massive losses from buyers with bad credit and tarnished credibility from recall cover-ups in Japan.
Well, I'm sure that Rod "Its not a tax, its just closing a corporate loophole" Blajoveich is sure happy that he can screw us downstaters once more....
Could it be *GASP* the corporation's bottom line?
its called Free Trade
Bush just lost this State
Bush never had Illinois to begin with - all your dead friends from Chicago see to that.
And I'm sure you like that just fine.
Mitsu Corp has been a heavy anchor! If this doesn't work (I don't think it will) watch DC split from them. Poor Japan...still that's FOUR BILLION cash bailout money, lost to bad loan practices.
"We can forget that pack of pessimists that are roaming our land. If we strengthen incentives, invest fully in new technologies, and strive for new breakthroughs in productivity, then we can outproduce, outcompete, and outsell anybody, anytime, anywhere in the world. And as we use our knowledge to help older industries modernize and help develop new sunrise industries, we can create a bounty of new opportunities, jobs, and improvements in the quality of life surpassing anything that we've ever before dreamed or imagined…".Sept 3, 1984, Ronald Reagan
Don't let the idiocy of a few true believers in the core commie constituency of patronage-laden Chicago fool you, my friend. This state has a lot of good conservatives. It's just that Rich Daley has set up a system where he can't be beaten, and is the de facto governor of the state. If he is ever brought to justice for corruption (unlikely, but possible), this state could change dramatically. We can all only hope.
The kind of government they have in Chicago is not democracy. The elections there are a sham. Daley is a tyrant plain and simple, but it's not just Daley, it's "the democrat machine". It's corrupt, entrenched and dissent is intimidated and bullied into submission. This Emil Jones, this full blown, shameless racist, that the dems have in the General Assembly is as bad as Pate Phillips. I don't know how it can be changed without violence.
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Great Car =
Mitsubishi Galant
Outstanding Car =
Chrysler 300
The Forward Look - 2005
I hope this won't effect Jack Ryan's Senate Race. He was starting to bounce back against Iraq Osama.
IL perpetually votes for Rats; even if Bush campaigns 24/7 in IL they'll still vote for the DemocRat.
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JACK RYAN =
'Hawaii-50' JACK LORD's real name
"Book'em, DANNO"
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The loss of the two D-C cars at the Normal plant will be offset by the planned introduction of nearly 20 new models over the next 5 years. Even if Mitsubishi ever decides to discontinue manufacturing in Normal, the plant itself won't sit idle for long; it will be snatched up by another auto concern rather quickly (despite the anti-business climate promoted by Blagojevich's policies), as it remains one of, if not the most, modern and efficient car plants in the country.
I understood it to be that D-C was shifting production of their two cars to one of their plants. Too bad, the Sebring and Stratus enjoyed a very good quality rating under the Normal plant's manufacture.
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