California Jury Awards $40 Million in Johnson & Johnson Talc Cancer Lawsuit 
Azul Airlines Wins Court Approval for $2 Billion Debt Restructuring and New Capital Raise 
United Airlines Flight to Tokyo Returns to Dulles After Engine Failure During Takeoff 
Oil Prices Rebound as U.S.-Venezuela Tensions Offset Oversupply Concerns 
Gold Prices Dip as Markets Absorb Dovish Fed Outlook; Silver Eases After Record High 
Global Markets Slide as Tech Stocks Sink, Yields Rise, and AI Concerns Deepen 
United Airlines Tokyo-Bound Flight Returns to Dulles After Engine Failure 
SoftBank Shares Slide as Oracle’s AI Spending Plans Fuel Market Jitters 
Oil Prices Rebound in Asia as Venezuela Sanctions Risks Offset Ukraine Peace Hopes 
HSBC’s $13.6 Billion Take-Private Offer for Hang Seng Bank Gains Board Backing 
China’s Small Bank Consolidation Struggles as Profits Fall and Risks Persist 
Rio Tinto Signs Interim Agreement With Yinhawangka Aboriginal Group Over Pilbara Mining Operations 
JD.com Pledges 22 Billion Yuan Housing Support for Couriers as China’s Instant Retail Competition Heats Up 
China’s November Economic Data Signals Slowing Industrial Output and Weak Consumer Demand 
ANZ Faces Legal Battle as Former CEO Shayne Elliott Sues Over A$13.5 Million Bonus Dispute 
Wall Street Futures Dip as Broadcom Slides, Tech Weighed Down Despite Dovish Fed Signals 
Mitsubishi Motors discontinues vehicle production in China, planning exit talks with joint venture partner Guangzhou Automobile Group amidst the electric vehicle market surge.
According to Reuters, Mitsubishi Motors and GAC Motor have a plant in Hunan Province. After the former withdraws, the Chinese auto manufacturing company is likely to convert the facility into its production base for electric vehicles (EV).
Ongoing Talks for Mitsubishi Motors’ China Exit
Based on the reports, the Japanese automaker is also discussing the future of its Chinese business with the shareholders of its JV company that was set up in the country with GAC Motor. At this point, it was said that there is no concrete decision yet.
Two unnamed sources reportedly shared that Mitsubishi Motors is already making final arrangements with Guangzhou Automobile Group so it can smoothly withdraw its business in the region. It was noted that the Japanese vehicle manufacturer had already suspended the local production of its latest Outlander sports utility vehicle model earlier this year, and this was only months after the SUV was launched.
Mitsubishi Motors and GAC JV
As mentioned on Bloomberg, Mitsubishi and GAC’s JV was named the GAC Mitsubishi Motors Co. The partners built a factory in Hunan province, and earlier this year, the former announced it would lay off factory workers.
In July, the JV sent an internal memo to its workers, and the content was widely circulated on various social media platforms in China. The company wrote that its sales plunged way beyond expectations in a market that is quickly moving into EVs.
The decline is apparently one of the major reasons that pushed Mitsubishi Motors to end its business in China. With the increasing production of EVs from Tesla, BYD Co., Kia Motors, Nissan Motor, and Honda in China, Mitsubishi Motors could no longer keep up since more and more customers are also shifting to electric. This explains the company’s continuous poor sales results in recent years.
Photo by: BezeVision/Unsplash
