Mitsubishi Motors North America plans to move its headquarters and 200 jobs from Southern California to Franklin, Tennessee, just outside booming Nashville and closer to its partner Nissan.
Carlos Ghosn might be gone but his influence is still being felt with the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance as Mitsubishi will be following the path from Southern California to Tennessee blazed by Nissan in 2015. The move was sparked by Ghosn.
“Mitsubishi Motors is changing the way we go to market in the United States, and it is leading to a rebirth of the company,” said Fred Diaz, MMNA’s president and chief executive officer.
“This is an exciting time for us, with a refreshed leadership team, new-look dealerships and redesigned and all-new vehicles. As we drive toward the future, this is the perfect time for us to move to a new home,” Diaz said.
Mitsubishi, which has been based in Southern California since it first arrived in the U.S. in 1988, will begin to move from its headquarters in Cypress, California, for Franklin in August. The move should be complete by December, Mitsubishi officials said.
(Mitsubishi aims to maintain momentum in the U.S.)
The company chose Franklin as its new home because it allows MMNA to focus its efforts on company-wide reinvention and take advantage of the area’s vibrant technology skil
lset, all while realizing cost savings through the business-friendly work environment and proximity to sister company, Nissan.
MMNA’s move highlights efforts taken across the entire global landscape of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to bring the companies closer together in key areas including procurement, development and cost efficiencies.
While MMNA has seen an ongoing strengthening of the business for multiple years – six straight years of annual sales gains, the last two years now more than 100,000 sales as it retained its “fastest-growing Asian brand” title for a second year.
In the past 12 months, MMNA has gone through major changes. Now 80% of the leadership team, including Diaz, is new to the company or newly promoted to the role, bringing new experiences, backgrounds and a diversity of thought to the team and 34 new dealer partners have been appointed across the country.
(Mitsubishi could be next to re-enter U.S. pickup market)
There are nearly 200 people working in MMNA’s Cypress office. All corporate departments will be relocating, including sales, marketing, IT, human resources, communications, parts and service, product planning, dealer operations, finance and legal.
MMNA’s west coast parts distribution center (PDC), currently locate
d on the existing headquarters campus, also will be relocating. MMNA is working with Nissan North America to establish its PDC in a newly constructed shared facility in Riverside, California — further proof of the streamlining and cost savings the Alliance partnership brings to Mitsubishi’s business.
Additionally, 25 employees representing the company’s Western Region operations will move to new offices elsewhere in Orange County, California.
No other Mitsubishi Motors facilities in the U.S. are affected, including Mitsubishi Research and Development North America (MRDA)’s R&D operations in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and MRDA government relations operations in Washington, D.C.
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Initially, MMNA will be transferring operations to a temporary office in Franklin. Beyond that, MMNA officials are working with representatives from commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, to identify the company’s permanent offices.
