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Mitsubishi ending US production

Mitsubishi is closing the doors on its US production as part of a "strategic move," Japan's Nikkei news service reports. According to Automotive News, the company declined to comment on the factory, and instead said it had "no plans to stop selling" vehicles in the United States. That's not what we asked, folks. According to the Nikkei news, the company is in the process of finding a buyer for is Normal, IL factory, which it opened as part of a joint venture with Chrysler back in 1988. The facility currently employs 918 UAW workers, whose jobs Mitsubishi is attempting to save as part of its negotiations with labor reps. The Normal plant is the only Japanese production facility with UAW representation, Automotive News reports. Normal is responsible for production of the Outlander Sport, building nearly 70,000 examples last year. Production is continuing on, according to the vice president for the local UAW Local, Kyle Young. "We haven't heard anything," Young told AN in a phone interview. "We're supposed to have negotiations coming up" in August. It's not clear how much the Mitsubishi will be selling the Normal plant for, nor is it clear if any parties are interested in picking up the facility, which contributes around $120 million to the local economy each year.

Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.

F1 champ Nigel Mansell is selling Mitsubishis in Jersey

Formula One drivers have a pretty short shelf life, so when they're done racing in grands prix, retired pilots can have a whole second career ahead of them. Jody Scheckter, for example, runs an organic farm. Niki Lauda started an airline. Most move on to other racing series, provide television commentary during race broadcasts, or start their own racing teams. But not Nigel Mansell: he's got a Mitsubishi dealership. Situated on Jersey – not New Jersey, but the British channel island – Mansell Mitsubishi is run by Nigel and his son Leo. It grew out of the service station the Mansells opened fourteen years ago, and out of the Mansell Collection, a used car dealership based in an old Art Deco movie theater, but recently expanded into selling new cars recently with the acquisition of a franchise. The Japanese brand may seem a bit of an odd choice, especially now that it's getting away from performance models and putting more emphasis on plug-in electrics. After all, Nigel won his 1992 Formula One World Championship in a Renault-powered Williams, before that raced for the likes of Ferrari and Lotus, and won the CART title on his debut season in a Lola-Ford. But the Mansells are adamant that they wanted a volume brand, not to deal with the high-priced exotics with which the name might be more readily associated. After all, there are only 100,000 or so people residing on the isle of Jersey, which wouldn't make for a very big customer base for high-end machinery. He and Leo (with whom he raced at Le Mans a few years back) even participated in a two-day training session for new franchisees, where few initially recognized the former champ. And they've got plans to expand as well. But the biggest draw may very well be the star factor, and the Mansells haven't shied away from playing it up, displaying memorabilia from Nigel's racing career around the showroom. After all, the prospect of being taken on a test drive by a former F1 champion may be enough to bring new customers into the showroom who might not have otherwise.