[ROVERNET - UK] Sale of Jaguar and Land Rover...Chrysler

[Glen Wilson]

Glen Wilson wrote:
> Buying a factory is not the same as buying the company! They aren't 
> making Chryslers and Dodges with Mitsubishi nameplates on them, I'll 
> bet.  Anyway, I'll bet that if you check, Chrysler still owns a big 
> chunk of Mitsu, so it's easy to shift things back and forth. In the 
> USA, both Dodge Stealths and Mitsubishi Eclipses came out of the same 
> factory in Belvidere, Illinois.  Maybe they still do.
Well, er, maybe they don't...


        *Chrysler Lightens Load by Dropping Mitsubishi*

/November 11, 2005
/
NEW YORK -- DaimlerChrysler AG today divested itself of its stake in 
Mitsubishi Corp., including Mitsubishi Motors North America, according 
to a company statement.

A spokesman for Mitsubishi, Cypress, Calif., said the move will "have no 
effect on Mitsubishi's relationship with its marketing." BBDO, New York, 
handles the brand.

Mitsubishi released a statement today stating, "Although capital ties 
between Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and DaimlerChrysler AG (DC) 
will be dissolved as a result of the sale, ongoing individual alliance 
projects are progressing smoothly. Those projects include joint 
development and production of engines, the shared use of vehicle 
architecture, and the joint production of passenger vehicles."

The statement also said that the companies would remain business 
partners "where both parties continue working on individual alliance 
projects that are mutually beneficial."

As part of the divestiture, Dr. Rudiger Grube resigned from his position 
as a non-executive member of the board, according to the statement.

Despite the introduction of the re-designed Eclipse and the recently 
released Raider pickup truck, putting the company up one percent in unit 
sales in October, Mitsubishi remains 26% down on the year to date, 
selling 105,000 units, according to Car Concepts, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

MMNA spent $145 million through August 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

-- Gregory Solman, /Adweek/