Mitsubishi will pack its things and depart California for Nashville, Tennessee. After 40 years near Los Angeles, Mitsubishi said Tuesday that it will relocate its North American-market headquarters to be closer to alliance partner Nissan.
Nissan's U.S. headquarters is in Franklin, Tennessee, a Nashville suburb. Mitsubishi said in a statement that it will locate a temporary space before settling into a permanent office. Every department housed in Mitsubishi's headquarters will make the move from California to Tennessee, including sales, marketing, IT, human resources, communications, parts and service, product planning, dealer operations, finance, and legal are all part of the move.
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In addition to the corporate relocation, the Japanese auto brand also said its main parts distribution center will relocate, but stay within California. Currently, the center is part of the Cypress, California, headquarters Mitsubishi has occupied for decades but it will soon be added to a newly constructed facility in Riverside, California. The move is another step to streamline Mitsubishi's business in North America and realize cost savings as part of the Renault-Nissan alliance. Further, 25 employees will move to new offices in Orange County, California. The employees will continue represent Mitsubishi's west coast operations.
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The company said 200 employees total will make the move from California to Tennessee and no other U.S. facility faces impacts from the decision. Mitsubishi operates R&D operations in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and MRDA government relations operations in Washington, D.C.
Mitsubishi is the latest automaker to leave Southern California. Nissan spearheaded the wave of departures when it announced plans to leave California for Tennessee in 2005, and Toyota relocated from Torrance, California, to Plano, Texas, a Dallas suburb, in 2017.