Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced that it has commenced the production at Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation’s (MMPC) new plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna Province, Philippines. A ceremony was held on January 29 to commemorate the opening of the new plant with His Excellency President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines, other government officials, and many others in attendance.
The new plant will be able to produce up to 50,000 units per year, exceeding 30,000 units per year at the previous plant in Cainta, Rizal Province (closed in December 2014). The new plant will start with continuous production of the Adventure andL300, models produced at the previous plant.
At the ceremony, Mr. Masuko, Chairman and CEO said in his speech: “The Philippine market is expected to show the most growth among the all the countries in the ASEAN region, which is the most important market for our company. Therefore it is positioned as one of the pillars of our ASEAN business. We will continue to do our best to contribute to development of the automobile industry and job creation in the Philippines.”
With a long history of operation rooted in the Philippine market, MMC has successfully attained high market share in the country. In the Philippines, MMC posted 48,793 units (market share of 18.6 %) of sales for the calendar year 2014, a 15.2% increase from the previous year, recording the highest sales volume in two consecutive years. Moving forward, MMC plans to strengthen its operating base through expanding its production and sales operations in the country where continuous growth of the market is expected.
Outline of MMPC (Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation)
Established | Feb. 1963 | |
Headquarters/Plant | Santa Rosa, Laguna Province (45km southeast of Manila) | |
Capital | 1.64 billion PHP | |
Scope of operations | Production and sales of MMC vehicles | |
Representative | Hikosaburo Shibata, President and CEO | |
Stockholders | MMC 51%, Sojitz Corporation 49% | |
Production capacity at the new plant | ||
50,000 units/year | ||
Site area of the new plant | Approx. 21.4 hectares | |
Number of employees | Approx. 900 employees (as of January 2015) | |
Production lineup | Philippine-made: Adventure, L300, Thailand-made: Mirage, Mirage G4 (Attrage in some markets), Montero Sport (Pajero Sport in some markets), L200/Strada (Triton in some markets) Japan-made: ASX (Outlander Sport or RVR in some markets), Pajero (Montero in some markets) |