Diamond-Star Motors

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Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) Manufacturing Division

Type	Subsidiary
Founded	October 1985
Headquarters	100 N. Mitsubishi Motorway, Normal, Illinois 61761
Key people	Jerry Berwanger (EVP, COO) Hideyasu Tagaya (Chairman, MMNA)
Industry	Automobile manufacturing
Employees	1,900
Parent	Mitsubishi Motors North America
Website	MitsubishiManufacturing.com

Diamond-Star Motors (commonly abbreviated to DSM) was an automobile-manufacturing joint venture between the Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC). The name came from the parent companies' respective logos: three diamonds (Mitsubishi) and a pentastar (Chrysler). Diamond-Star Motors was officially renamed Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Inc. (MMMA) in 1995, and since 2002 the plant's official title has been Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) Manufacturing Division.^[1]

DSM can also refer to three of the vehicles produced by Diamond-Star Motors, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, and Plymouth Laser.^[2]

1 Background
2 Incorporation
3 Departure of Chrysler
4 Unionization
5 Production, 1988–2005
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Background

The origins of Diamond-Star Motors can be traced back to 1970 when Chrysler Corporation took a 15 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, as part of MMC's strategy of expansion through alliances with foreign partners. The U.S. company began distributing Mitsubishis as Chrysler-, Dodge- and Plymouth-branded captive imports, a successful venture as the compacts met consumer demand for smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles in the 1970s, filling a gap at the bottom of the Chrysler group's range.^{[citation needed]}

By 1982, Chrysler was importing 110,000 Mitsubishis annually. However, a minor conflict was forming as the Japanese now wanted to sell directly through their own-branded dealerships. A voluntary import quota system was in place at this time, restricting the number of cars Japanese automakers could bring in to the U.S. As the Japanese company began to open its own branded dealerships to sell directly, every imported Cordia, Tredia and Starion sold by Mitsubishi had to be discounted from Chrysler's allocation.^[3]

[edit] Incorporation

In order to circumvent this, the two partners officially incorporated Diamond-Star Motors in October 1985, and in April 1986 ground was broken on a 1.9 million square-foot (177,000 m²) production facility in Normal, Illinois. The plant was completed in March 1988, with an annual capacity of 240,000 vehicles.^[1]

Initially, three models were produced at this facility. The Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser and Eagle Talon were smaller 2+2 sports cars on a new co-designed platform. Models subsequently produced during the next decade included the Mitsubishi Mirage/Eagle Summit, the Mitsubishi Galant, the Dodge Avenger/Chrysler Sebring, and the Dodge Stratus.^[4]

[edit] Departure of Chrysler

Initially Diamond-Star Motors was a 50/50 joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi. However, in 1991 the Japanese company purchased its partner's equity stake, and thereafter the manufacture of Chrysler vehicles was on a contractual basis. Chrysler sold its equity stake in Mitsubishi in 1993, and Diamond-Star Motors was renamed to Mitsubishi Motors Manufacturing America (MMMA) on July 1, 1995.^[1] Despite the departure, Chrysler and Mitsubishi retain close ties as they often work together on various projects (such as the Dodge Division's work on the new for 2006 Mitsubishi Raider pickup, which is essentially a re-skinned Dodge Dakota, even offering Dakota’s 4.7 as an option).)

Currently the plant produces vehicles using the American-developed Mitsubishi PS platform, including the current Endeavor, Galant and Eclipse, and exports to 26 countries worldwide. There are approximately 1,900 people working in the plant. The highly mechanized production process involves as many as 1,000 robots. Expansion in 2003 means that it now occupies 2.4 million square-feet.^[5]

[edit] Unionization

In 1989, the workers at the Diamond-Star plant formed United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2488, and signed their first contract with the company. The local and the company have negotiated 8 contracts in all, with only one strike. With the departure of Chrysler from the joint venture, and the creation of MMNA in 1993, the plant became the only US auto plant wholly owned by a Japanese company that is unionized.^[6]

[edit] Production, 1988–2005

Year	Units
1988	2,409
1989	90,741
1990	148,379
1991	153,936
1992	139,783
1993	136,035
1994	169,829
1995	218,161
1996	192,961
1997	189,086
1998	157,139
1999	161,844
2000	222,036
2001	193,435
2002	202,352
2003	173,699
2004	113,435
2005	87,594
Total	2,752,854