Mitsubishi Motors Australia
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Import, distribution and marketing |
| Founded | 1 October 1980 |
| Headquarters | Tonsley Park, South Australia |
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Key people
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Mutsuhiro Oshikiri, President and CEO |
| Products | Motor vehicles |
| Parent | Mitsubishi Motors Corporation |
| Website | mitsubishi-motors.com.au |
Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) is a fully owned subsidiary of parent company Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan. Its Australian administrative headquarters are located in the Adelaide suburb of Tonsley Park (Clovelly Park, South Australia), with branch offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The company was established in 1980 and began vehicle manufacturing in that year, having taken over the facilities of Chrysler Australia. Australian production ceased in 2008 and since that time the company has been exclusively a vehicle importer. MMAL spare parts facilities are located in Adelaide and Sydney.
Construction of the vehicle assembly plant at Tonsley Park was commenced by the then owners, Chrysler Australia, in 1963, and the assembly plant was opened in October 1964. Chrysler's previous plant at Keswick then shut down and sold to leading Adelaide furniture retailer Le Cornu who renovated the building for its grand re-opening in 1973. As of December 2013, the Keswick site is still the home of Le Cornu in Adelaide.
In 1968, Chrysler opened an engine manufacturing plant south of Adelaide at Lonsdale, to provide engines for the popular Chrysler Valiant models that were being produced at their Tonsley Park facility.
After the acquisition by parent company Chrysler of a 15 percent interest in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in 1971, Chrysler Australia began building Mitsubishi-designed Chrysler-branded vehicles, namely the Chrysler Valiant Galant (later Chrysler Galant), based on the 1972–1977 Mitsubishi Galant and the Chrysler Sigma, a variant of the 1977–1985 Mitsubishi Galant. In 1979, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation each acquired a one sixth equity in Chrysler Australia. The collective price paid for the two-sixths equity was A$27 million. On 30 April 1980, the two Japanese companies assumed 98.9 percent control by paying a further $52 million to acquire Chrysler's remaining 65 percent share. The remaining 1.1 percent was held by 690 local investors. The company name was changed to Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited on 1 October 1980. Production of the popular Sigma range of vehicles continued under the Mitsubishi name until 1987 with its eventual replacement, the Magna, having been released in 1985. Colt production, which had commenced in 1982, ended in 1990, with no locally manufactured replacement.
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Wikipedia