Chrysler has signed a five-year deal with Mitsubishi Motors to rebadge the Thai-built Mitsubishi Attrage for sale in Mexico. Reuters reports that the deal will help shore up the latter's production levels in Thailand which has been lagging due to poor domestic sales.
The deal marks the first time since the Eclipse-based Eagle Talon was discontinued in 1998 that Mitsubishi has provided Chrysler with cars to be rebadged, but will be limited to the Central American nation only with no immediate plans for expansion to other markets. Chrysler's Mexican arm hopes to sell at least 10,000 units of the likely Dodge-badged B-segment sedan annually.
The move is aimed to resuscitate Mitsubishi's Thailand operations after slow sales due to the ongoing political crisis and the termination of subsidies for first-time buyers. "Our Thai business has not necessarily gone the way we had hoped for due to political and economic conditions, but by sending these vehicles to Mexico, we can maintain production levels," said Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko.
In other news, Masuko has denied that the rumoured partnership with Fiat to supply the Triton exists, claiming that he has never even met the Italian company's CEO Sergio Marchionne.
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