Mitsubishi employees learned Friday morning the Japan-based company is trying to sell its facility in Normal. Tool and die maker Kent Ferguson of Urbana was one of the hundreds of workers gathered to hear company executives make the announcement.
"I don't think anyone ever figured this was a negotiating ploy. I think, the fact that we're not making many cars and that fact that the car we do make is made overseas also, and they're opening plants in southeast Asia and they've really been working toward getting themselves in the Asian market," Ferguson said.
Mitsubishi spokesman Dan Irvin said in a statement the company has reviewed its global supply chain and decided to end its U.S. production. The plant in Normal builds Mitsubishi's best-selling model, the Outlander Sport. There are currently about 1,200 employees at the plant in Normal. At its peak, the facility employed about 3,000 workers.
“I am saddened to see a company as large and pivotal as Mitsubishi close their doors in Illinois,” said Department of Commerce Director Jim Schultz. “We will be taking the necessary steps on the ground to help with job training and placement for the workers. We desperately need to improve the business climate here in Illinois. We need to retain companies and jobs, not lose them.”
Officials from the town of Normal, city of Bloomington, McLean County, and several other stakeholders held a news conference this afternoon about Mitsubishi Motor of North America's decision to close its auto plant here. Mayor Chris Koos says it's time to move ahead.
"We need to embrace this decision by Mitsubishi as a new opportunity for our community, and to aggressively engage key local, state and federal leaders to help us develop an aggressive strategy to find a new owner for the local Mitsubishi facility," Koos said.
Mayor Koos also pointed out that although the plant is 30 years old, the technology has been constantly upgraded. He says the closing of the plant was not related to union negotiations.