Unless Mitsubishi Motors changes, it has no future, president says

Senior Mitsubishi Motors executives attend a reform promotion committee meeting.

TOKYO -- After a decade-long revival campaign, Mitsubishi Motors finds itself on a quality improvement drive.

     The Japanese automaker has a not-so ulterior motive. At the end of last year, the Transport Ministry inspected it over what it called a "passive" stance on the recall of potentially defective cars.

     Mitsubishi Motors then launched its Customer First Program. The campaign is aimed not only at turning out higher-quality cars but also at reforming its corporate culture.

     To implement the program, Mitsubishi Motors set up a reform promotion committee that directly reports to President Osamu Masuko. Three reform teams were also established, one each in charge of product quality, business processes and corporate culture. Their respective heads are Managing Director Ryugo Nakao, Director Toshihiko Hattori and Managing Director Testuro Aikawa.

     Nakao, Hattori and Aikawa are all seen as the company's next-generation leaders.

     At a company meeting in August, which was also attended by outside experts, a senior Mitsubishi Motors executive pointed out some of the company's specific problems and then held up Toyota Motor, General Motors and Nissan Motor as role models.

     "We are logic and technology-oriented," Masuko told those in attendance."Unless we change our corporate culture, there will be no growth or even a future for us."

     Every one of the carmaker's workplaces has been holding a meeting almost once every week to discuss ways to create an atmosphere of openness and to encourage all employees to speak out.

     The automaker believes that information has not always flowed within and from each workplace to management and that the situation has partially led to Mitsubishi Motor's quality problems.

     Changes can also be seen at Mitsubishi Motors' Japanese dealers and factories.

     Delays in product-quality reports from dealers were blamed for the automakers' slow recall response. Mitsubishi Motors has since called for faster and more information sharing with dealers.

     "In the past," the president of a Mitsubishi Motors sales subsidiary said, "there were some service staffers who were busy with their jobs and rather reluctant to submit product quality reports. But now we ensure that they are all submitted."

     Earlier this year, Mitsubishi Motors recalled Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, only several months after they hit the market, due to a lithium-ion battery problem.

     Some lithium-ion cells made by Lithium Energy Japan became defective after being dropped during the manufacturing process.

     Mitsubishi Motors' Nagoya Plant in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, which produces Outlander PHEV vehicles, now has special equipment to prevent cells from falling onto the ground. It has also installed 10 surveillance cameras.

     Meanwhile, a cost-reduction campaign is under way at Mitsubishi Motors' Mizushima Plant, in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, the company's main minicar production base.

     The plant has conducted a sweeping review of parts transportation costs and taken several measures. In one, after carefully checking the location of each supplier on a map, it arranged for joint deliveries.

(Nikkei)