MMC Eyes Building Second Plant in Philippines

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to open a new 20 billion-yen ($153 million) car factory in the Philippines by 2015, The Nikkei reports without citing its sources.

The new facility, which would be MMC's second assembly plant in the country, is part of the company's new focus on expansion in southeast Asia, according to the Tokyo-based newspaper. It notes that MMC's outdated existing factory in the Philippines can produce only 30,000 vehicles per year.

The new facility to be built near Manila would reach annual capacity of 100,000 units by 2017 and eventually double in size, The Nikkei says. It adds that the plant's output would include SUVs and subcompact cars.