Mitsubishi: We’re Staying in U.S.

President Osamu Masuko tells Automotive News that Mitsubishi Motor Corp. has "no intention whatsoever" of shutting down its American operations, as Japanese rival Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to do.

Suzuki's exit leaves MMC as the lowest-volume Japanese carmaker in the American market. Isuzu Motors Ltd. left three years ago.

MMC's U.S. sales have plummeted 29% year over year to 50,100 vehicles in January through October as the market expanded 15%, according to Autodata Corp. The carmaker's market share has shrunk to 0.4% from 0.7% a year earlier.

Masuko blames MMC's plunging volume on the discontinuation of four major models, including the Galant midsize sedan and Endeavor crossover vehicle. He tells AN the debut of such new models as the Outlander crossover will boost the company's sales to 80,000 vehicles in the fiscal year ending in March 2014 from an estimated 55,000 units in the current fiscal year.

MMC also aims to hike production at its assembly plant in Normal, Ill., by 20,000 units to 70,000 vehicles next year and begin selling more of the factory's output overseas.