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Annual Report 2005
6
MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION
Question 1: What is your view of fiscal 2004? How did the year turn out for Mitsubishi Motors?
In April 2004, we were informed by then leading shareholder DaimlerChrysler that it would
not participate in a capital increase or provide additional financial support to MMC. Having
received this notice, in May 2004, MMC unveiled the Business Revitalization Plan, a new
medium-term business plan formulated to restore vitality to the company. Subsequently,
however, there was a dramatic change in the company’s operating environment due to such
factors as the loss of public trust triggered by past recall-related issues and customers
shunning Mitsubishi-made vehicles. To respond to this unprecedented change in our operat-
ing environment, we announced the Mitsubishi Motors Revitalization Plan, incorporating
additional countermeasures, on January 28, 2005. In this sense, the past fiscal year was a
particularly difficult one for MMC.
Under these challenging circumstances, MMC was supported by corporations and investors
who subscribed to its massive capital increase in expectation of future growth, and the
exhaustive efforts of the former management team to win back customer trust lost as a result
of past recall-related issues. It was in this context that I took the helm of the company and
began leading revitalization efforts in January 2005. I believe that our prospects are now a
little brighter on the road to recovery.
In September 2004, we submitted a report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport on measures taken in regard to the problems associated with past recalls. In March
2005, we submitted our final report to the same ministry in response to its written warning. In
this report, we outlined measures to prevent any recurrence based on a fact-finding study to
establish the causes of the recall-related problems. At the same time, we announced disciplin-
ary actions against the personnel involved, including former directors in place at the time the
problems occurred, thus drawing a line to put the issue behind us. Moving forward, MMC will
redouble its commitment to being a socially responsible automaker as it seeks to regain the
trust of customers and the public at large.
Question 2: You were appointed president of Mitsubishi Motors just as the company announced its new
revitalization plan in January 2005. You come from a trading company, so what are your views
on management of an automaker?
At Mitsubishi Corporation, I was involved in the overseas marketing of cars for more than 30
years. I am not worried, nor do I feel that managing an automaker will put me under enormous
Business Revitalization – Issues and Initiatives
Interview with the President