Just as usual, the Japanese automaker cites the economic turmoil as the reason for this cost-saving measure and re-expresses its commitment to small and fuel efficient models.
Together with other cost-cutting attempts applied in the past, today’s job slashing is supposed to "ensure longevity in this challenging market," Mitsubishi said in a statement to Automotive News. "These actions will realign its infrastructure to correspond to a much smaller U.S. automotive market. However, the changes will better support our long-term durability in the North American market."
The United States market isn’t the only sector that receives major marketing changes sourced from Mitsubishi. The Japanese automaker earlier this month announced that it will transfer European sales, marketing and product operations to Japan.
"We're confronted with a major crisis, which will bring radical changes to the industry. What we've announced today are the necessary first steps to be ready when the crisis is over," Daniel Nacass, company's spokesman, said a few weeks ago
Mitsubishi’s sales in the United States fell 24.6 percent to 97,257 in 2008, figures which underline, if needed, the difficult conditions automakers currently experience in this particular sector. Sales fell in Europe as well, this time by 18 percent but the company has already warned that 2009 may bring even lower sales in most major markets across the globe.
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