Mitsubishi Motors Australia - History - Mitsubishi Takeover

Mitsubishi Takeover

After the acquisition by parent company Chrysler of a 15 percent interest in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in 1971, Chrysler Australia began building Mitsubishi-designed Chrysler-branded vehicles, namely the Chrysler Valiant Galant (later Chrysler Galant), based on the 1972–1977 Mitsubishi Galant and the Chrysler Sigma, a variant of the 1977–1985 Mitsubishi Galant. In 1979 Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation each acquired a one sixth equity in Chrysler Australia and in April 1980 the two companies purchased the remaining shares in the company from the US Chrysler Corporation. The company name was changed to Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited in October 1980. Production of the popular Sigma range of vehicles continued under the Mitsubishi name until 1987 with its eventual replacement, the Magna, having been released in 1985. Colt production, which had commenced in 1982, ended in 1990, with no locally manufactured replacement.

The Magna, like its forebear the Sigma, was based on the Galant. This time, input from MMAL resulted in a wider car than the donor model a station wagon joined the line in 1987. Several model refreshes during the 1990s kept the Magna, which had expanded to include the luxury and Verada updated. However, by the early 2000s, it was clear that the Magna/Verada line, now in its third iteration had aged considerably. A facelift to the Magna/Verada line in 2003 failed to lift sales. Approval for construction of a new vehicle was gained from Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, and funding was provided to re-engineer the Tonsley Park plant with the result that a new vehicle, the Mitsubishi 380, was delivered to the market in late 2005.