to fuel mileage scandals need to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . april 2016 mitsubishi motors corporation mitsubishi motors headquarters building in shiba minato native name romanized name mitsubishi jid sha k gy kk type public subsidiary traded as tyo 7211 industry automotive predecessor mitsubishi heavy industries motor and cars business founded october 1917 as mitsubishi shipbuilding co. ltd. april 22 1970 ; 46 years ago 1970 04 22 as mitsubishi motors founder mitsubishi heavy industries headquarters minato tokyo japan number of locations cypress california united states schiphol rijk netherlands santa rosa laguna philippines khlong luang pathum thani thailand key people osamu masuko chairman 1 tetsuro aikawa president chief operating officer products automobiles economy cars commercial vehicles revenue 2.180 trillion 2015 2 net income 118.170 billion 2015 2 owner nissan 34 % 3 mitsubishi 20 % number of employees 30 498 2015 2 subsidiaries list transportation soueast hunan changfeng motor ralliart engines harbin dongan automotive engine manufacturing sports urawa red diamonds mitsubishi motors mizushima international mitsubishi motors australia mitsubishi motors europe mitsubishi motors north america mitsubishi motors philippines 51 % mitsubishi motors thailand website www.mitsubishi motors.com mitsubishi motors corporation japanese hepburn mitsubishi jid sha k gy kk ipa mitsu bi i 4 is a multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in minato tokyo japan . 5 in 2011 mitsubishi motors was the sixth biggest japanese automaker and the sixteenth biggest worldwide by production . 6 as of june 2016 mitsubishi is majority owned by nissan and thus a part of the renault nissan alliance . besides being part of the renault nissan alliance it is also a part of mitsubishi keiretsu formerly the biggest industrial group in japan through the corporation s minority 20 % stake in mitsubishi motors and the company was originally formed in 1970 from the automotive division of mitsubishi heavy industries . 7 mitsubishi fuso truck and bus corporation was formerly a part of mitsubishi motors but is now separate from mitsubishi motors which builds commercial grade trucks buses and heavy construction equipment and is owned by daimler ag . contents 1 history 1.1 post war era 2 chrysler connection 2.1 1970s 2.2 1980s 2.2.1 diamond star motors 2.2.2 1988 ipo 2.3 1990s 2.4 independence 2.5 daimlerchrysler 2.6 nissan 3 other alliances 3.1 volvo 3.2 psa peugeot citro n 3.3 volkswagen 3.4 colt & lonsdale 3.5 proton 3.6 hyundai 3.7 hindustan 3.8 samcor 3.9 chinese joint ventures 3.10 japan sale channels 4 historical troubles 4.1 asian economic downturn 4.2 vehicle defect cover up 4.3 0 0 0 4.4 end of australian production 4.5 end of european production 4.6 end of north american production 4.7 fuel mileage scandal 5 revitalization plan 6 management 7 electric vehicles 8 motorsport 8.1 circuit racing 8.2 off road racing 9 partnership with jackie chan 10 locations 10.1 research design & administration 10.2 production facilities 11 leadership 12 slogans 13 see also 14 references 15 external links history edit workers at mitsubishi shipbuilding co. ltd alongside one of the prototype mitsubishi model a automobiles . mitsubishi s automotive origins date back to 1917 when the mitsubishi shipbuilding co. ltd. introduced the mitsubishi model a japan s first series production automobile . 8 an entirely hand built seven seater sedan based on the fiat tipo 3 it proved expensive compared to its american and european mass produced rivals and was discontinued in 1921 after only 22 had been built . 9 in 1934 mitsubishi shipbuilding was merged with the mitsubishi aircraft co. a company established in 1920 to manufacture aircraft engines and other parts . the unified company was known as mitsubishi heavy industries mhi and was the largest private company in japan . 10 mhi concentrated on manufacturing aircraft ships railroad cars and machinery but in 1937 developed the px33 a prototype sedan for military use . it was the first japanese built passenger car with full time four wheel drive a technology the company would return to almost fifty years later in its quest for motorsport and sales success . 11 a 1937 mitsubishi px33 on display at the mondial de l automobile in september 2006 . post war era edit immediately following the end of the second world war the company returned to manufacturing vehicles . fuso bus production resumed while a small three wheeled cargo vehicle called the mizushima and a scooter called the silver pigeon were also developed . however the zaibatsu japan s family controlled industrial conglomerates were ordered to be dismantled by the allied powers in 1950 and mitsubishi heavy industries was split into three regional companies each with an involvement in motor vehicle development west japan heavy industries central japan heavy industries and east japan heavy industries . east japan heavy industries began importing the henry j an inexpensive american sedan built by kaiser motors in knockdown kit ckd form in 1951 and continued to bring them to japan for the remainder of the car s three year production run . the same year central japan heavy industries concluded a similar contract with willys now owned by kaiser for ckd assembled jeep cj 3bs . this deal proved more durable with licensed mitsubishi jeeps in production until 1998 thirty years after willys themselves had replaced the model . by the beginning of the 1960s japan s economy was gearing up ; wages were rising and the idea of family motoring was taking off . central japan heavy industries now known as shin mitsubishi heavy industries had already re established an automotive department in its headquarters in 1953 . now it was ready to introduce the mitsubishi 500 a mass market sedan to meet the new demand from consumers . it followed this in 1962 with the minica kei car and the colt 1000 the first of its colt line of family cars in 1963 . in 1964 mitsubishi introduced its largest passenger sedan the mitsubishi debonair as a luxury car primarily for the japanese market and was used by senior mitsubishi executives as a company car . west japan heavy industries now renamed mitsubishi shipbuilding & engineering and east japan heavy industries now mitsubishi nihon heavy industries had also expanded their automotive departments in the 1950s and the three were re integrated as mitsubishi heavy industries in 1964 . within three years its output was over 75 000 vehicles annually . following the successful introduction of the first galant in 1969 and similar growth with its commercial vehicle division it was decided that the company should create a single operation to focus on the automotive industry . mitsubishi motors corporation mmc was formed on april 22 1970 as a wholly owned subsidiary of mhi under the leadership of tomio kubo a successful engineer from the aircraft division . citation needed the logo of three red diamonds shared with over forty other companies within the keiretsu predates mitsubishi motors itself by almost a century . it was chosen by iwasaki yatar the founder of mitsubishi as it was suggestive of the emblem of the tosa clan who first employed him and because his own family crest was three rhombuses stacked atop each other . the name mitsubishi is a compound of mitsu three and hishi literally water chestnut often used in japanese to denote a diamond or rhombus . 12 chrysler connection edit 1970s edit part of mr. kubo s expansion strategy was to increase exports by forging alliances with well established foreign companies . therefore in 1971 mhi sold u.s. automotive giant chrysler a 15 percent share in the new company . thanks to this deal chrysler began selling the galant in the united states as the dodge colt which was the first rebadged mitsubishi product sold by chrysler pushing mmc s annual production beyond 250 000 vehicles . in 1977 the galant was sold as the chrysler sigma in australia . a 1973 mitsubishi galant the basis for the company s first captive import deal with chrysler . by 1977 a network of colt branded distribution and sales dealerships had been established across europe as mitsubishi sought to begin selling vehicles directly . annual production had by now grown from 500 000 vehicles in 1973 to 965 000 in 1978 when chrysler began selling the galant as the dodge challenger and the plymouth sapporo . however this expansion was beginning to cause friction ; chrysler saw their overseas markets for subcompacts as being directly encroached by their japanese partners while mmc felt the americans were demanding too much say in their corporate decisions . 1980s edit mitsubishi finally achieved annual production of one million cars in 1980 but by this time its ally was not so healthy ; as part of its battle to avoid bankruptcy chrysler was forced to sell its australian manufacturing division to mmc that year . the new japanese owners renamed it mitsubishi motors australia ltd mmal . in 1982 the mitsubishi brand was introduced to the american market for the first time . the tredia sedan and the cordia and starion coup s were initially sold through seventy dealers in 22 states with an allocation of 30 000 vehicles between them . this quota restricted by mutual agreement between the two countries governments had to be included among the 120 000 cars earmarked for chrysler . toward the end of the 1980s as mmc initiated a major push to increase its u.s. presence it aired its first national television advertising campaign and made plans to increase its dealer network to 340 dealers . in 1986 mitsubishi reached an agreement with liuzhou automotive to assemble their minicab kei van and truck there making mitsubishi the third japanese manufacturer after daihatsu and suzuki to begin assembly in china . before receiving government approval for this project mitsubishi had had to express contrition over defective mitsubishi trucks imported to china in 1984 and 1985 . 13 by 1989 mitsubishi s worldwide production including its overseas affiliates had reached 1.5 million units . diamond star motors edit main article diamond star motors a 1984 mitsubishi pajero the company s most successful suv . despite the ongoing tensions between chrysler and mitsubishi they agreed to unite in a vehicle manufacturing operation in normal illinois . the 50 50 venture provided a way to circumvent the voluntary import restrictions while providing a new line of compact and subcompact cars for chrysler . diamond star motors dsm from the parent companies logos three diamonds mitsubishi and a pentastar chrysler was incorporated in october 1985 and in april 1986 ground was broken on a 1.9 million square foot 177 000 m production facility . in 1987 the company was selling 67 000 cars a year in the u.s. but when the plant was completed in march 1988 it offered an annual capacity of 240 000 vehicles . initially three platform sharing compact 2 2 coup s were released the mitsubishi eclipse eagle talon and plymouth laser with other models being introduced in subsequent years . 1988 ipo edit mitsubishi motors went public in 1988 ending its status as the only one of japan s eleven auto manufacturers to be privately held . mitsubishi heavy industries agreed to reduce its share to 25 percent retaining its position as largest single stockholder . chrysler meanwhile increased its holding to over 20 percent . the capital raised by this initial offering enabled mitsubishi to pay off part of its debts as well as to expand its investments throughout south east asia where it was by now operating in the philippines malaysia and thailand . 1990s edit hirokazu nakamura became president of mitsubishi in 1989 and steered the company in some promising directions with the advent of the japanese asset price bubble market correction that led to the lost decade as a result of the plaza accord agreement signed in 1985 . sales of the company s new pajero were bucking conventional wisdom by becoming popular even in the crowded streets of japan