Struggling automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is considering a bolder restructuring plan, including a 10 percent cut to its workforce and closure of two domestic plants, sources said Friday.
MMC is working out a new restructuring plan because slower sales in the domestic market have lowered its capacity utilization rate, the sources said. It had a workforce of 13,727 on an unconsolidated basis as of the end of March.
It had been mapping out a restructuring plan under the leadership of DaimlerChrysler Corp., its biggest shareholder. But the Mitsubishi Group took over the role of working out a new plan after the German-American auto giant decided in late April to withdraw its support for MMC.
After shelving an initial plan to close a domestic plant, MMC has begun to reconsider, hoping to overcome the deteriorating business climate. Plants subject to possible closure include a factory owned by MMC subsidiary Pajero Manufacturing Co. in Sakahogi, Gifu Prefecture, and one in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture.
The new restructuring program is estimated to cost 450 billion yen, expected to be put up by Mitsubishi Group companies and Phoenix Capital Co., a Tokyo-based venture capital company. Other possible contributors include U.S. investment fund Ripplewood Holdings LLC.
The planned fundraising will substantially lower DaimlerChrysler's equity stake in MMC from about 37 percent.
The daily Asahi Shimbun said Friday that Phoenix Capital is expected to provide 200 billion yen and gain effective control of MMC.