Mitsubishi ends production in Australia

Global economic forces and poor sales of the Australian built 380 sedan (essentially a rebadged Galant) has forced Mitsubishi to end production at its Adelaide factory from the end of next month. Mitsubishi will remain in Australia as an importer but there are no plans in place to revive local production anytime soon. Mitsubishi first started building cars at the Tonsley Park site back in 1980 after acquiring the plant from Chrysler.

An official statement from the Aussie division’s Chief Robert McEniry stated the reason behind the closure was because of "changing consumer behaviors and buying patterns" in the Australian market. The 380 sedan is the only car Mitsubishi builds at the site, but sales of large sedans in Australia have fallen dramatically over the years despite the market achieving record sales year after year, reports the Associated Press.

Up to 930 employees will lose their job and the 380 will be discontinued from Mitsubishi’s local lineup. Officials made several major blunders when launching the new 380 back in 2005. The biggest mistake was dropping the longstanding ‘Magna’ nameplate, which officials deemed had a boring image. Also, the 380 which replaced the previous Magna sedan was too dull when compared directly with rival RWD sedans from Holden and Ford. This also meant that the cars depreciated much more rapidly than its rivals and led to its sales demise.