Step back in time: Mitsubishi’s treasure trove of classics

MITSUBISHI Colt Galants through time. Photo by Alvin Uy

Members of a select business and motoring media group were invited by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Inc. (MMPI) for a plant tour as well as a meeting with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) chairman, president and CEO Osamu Masuko and top executives to Japan to gain a better understanding of the company’s recent affiliation with NissanRenault, its views about the Philippine government’s CARS program, and the state-of-the-art plant operations of its Okazaki facility, as well as the global company’s R&D capability and testing grounds.

Okazaki City is located in the Aichi Prefecture and has a population of about 385,000 with a total land area of 387.20 square kilometers.

About 60 percent of the city area is heavily forested, and its relatively young population makes it a location conducive to raising a family away from Tokyo, located about 400 kilometers southwest, and a good source of technical manpower.

This is reflected by the low unemployment rate and presence of affordable housing in the area.

The Okazaki plant is about 50 years old now, and has undergone some retrofitting of new features and equipment in recent years, including the retrofitting of 700 robots of various functions.

The plant produces the Outlander and Outlander PHEV as well as the ASX models. It also assembles some models of Citroen and Peugeot using body parts custom made by MMC.

Actual racing cars show Mitsubishi vehicles tough spirit. Photo by Alvin Uy

The plant primarily produces models for export, with Europe accounting for about half its output. Each vehicle passes through the one kilometer assembly line and undergoes about 1,500 check points for quality control.

The facility sits in about 425,000 square meters with a covered floor area of about 140,000 square meters. Among the major areas of production are tooling, body welding, stamping and bumper production.

If the R&D Center and proving grounds were to be added, the whole compound is approximately 1 million square meters, or roughly the equivalent of 22 domed baseball stadiums.

Racing Pajeros evolved to the SUV Pajeros we know today. Photo by Alvin Uy

The Okazaki plant has a production capacity of 234,000 units a year operating on two shifts.

With Europe accounting for 48 percent, about 16 percent goes to North America; 7 percent each for the Japanese domestic market, Latin America, and North Asian market; 11 percent for Asean and Oceana; and the rest going to Africa.

Japan’s first production car

MMC, which was formerly the automotive division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, spun off and was established as a company in 1970.

Next year will be the 100th year since MMC developed the “Mitsubishi Model A” and began its first mass production passenger car in Japan.

A neat row of Mitsubishi vintage cars evokes memories. Photo by Alvin Uy

On the other hand, MMPC was established in 1963, and now has a history of 53 years.

During the plant tour, visitors got to see the various classic and vintage cars on display at the Mitsubishi Auto Gallery located across its main building.

Inside the well-curated exhibit area was a lineup of historical cars and bikes, some of which were actual race cars used in the Paris-Dakar Rally, Japan Grand Prix, Macau Grand Prix, World Race Championship and East African Rally.

The trophy corner also boasted a collection of awards and memorabilia showcasing the brand’s rich motorsports heritage.

Among the notable cars on display were the Lancer 1600GSR driven by Joginder Singh, the Lancer EX2000 Turbo used in the 1000 Lakes Rally, the Pajeros used in the Paris-Dakar Rally, and the Colt F3A Formula car used in Japan GP.

Actual jackets worn by Mitsubishi race car drivers. Photo by Alvin Uy

There was also a notable number of Pajero/Jeep that Mitsubishi produced under license in the 1950s, that became the Pajero and Montero SUVs of today.

Mitsubishi has used motorsports to hone its understanding about of automotive technology and production, and has applied these to its everyday production cars.

Future of Mitsubishi

Last October, MMC joined the Renault-Nissan alliance, which it believes will boost its competitiveness in products and technology.

On Oct. 20, Mitsubishi Motors announced that Nissan had become its largest shareholder after completing the purchase of 34 percent of MMC-issued stocks valued at 237 billion yen.

THE Mitsubishi Model A, the company’s first production vehicle. Photo by Alvin Uy

According to Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn, “This alliance is based that each company keeps its own personality and own brand. One of the reasons I so much wanted Masuko-san to stay as CEO because I wanted everyone to know that Mitsubishi remains Mitsubishi.”

Masuko pointed out that the character of Mitsubishi and its management philosophy remained intact. The management and employees would still adhere to the “Three Principles of Mitsubishi Business Management Philosophy” of corporate responsibility to society, integrity and fairness, and global understanding through business.

The basic DNA of Mitsubishi and its products remains intact and independent of Nissan and Renault. But the MMC CEO also pointed out that by being a part of a larger automotive alliance, there are concrete benefits in sharing resources in areas of purchasing, dealer/distribution networks, production, R&D, platform sharing and finance.

He further added that MMC can benefit from Renault’s strong presence in Europe and Nissan’s presence in North America, while MMC can contribute its expertise in the Asian region. The platform sharing idea is in its infancy stage, with Masuko saying that it is possible for Nissan to use Mitsubishi’s PHEV system and green technology.

The whole Mitsubishi group accounts for 10 percent of Japan’s GDP. From banking to finance to infrastructure to technology and cars, there is essentially a Mitsubishi product or service in almost everyone’s life in Japan, and perhaps the rest of the world.

In today’s very challenging market, Masuko intimated that competition is not only within the industry, but also outside.

With big companies like Google and Tesla planning to develop green technology cars with autonomous driving capabilities, traditional companies like Mitsubishi should watch out and pursue its own development and try to stay ahead of everyone else.

With the new alliance, they could just pull this off.