Mitsubishi withdrawal from Dutch plant 'a blow': minister

The Japanese carmaker announced in Tokyo earlier it was planning to stop automobile production in Europe by the end of 2012, blaming a difficult operating environment in the debt-hit continent.

“Of course it's a an unbelievable blow,” Dutch Economics Minister Maxime Verhagen told Amsterdam-based Dutch business news radio station BNR.

“It's extremely disappointing that Mitsubishi is not convinced that it should continue production after the end of this year,” he said.

Verhagen was to travel to Japan at the end of February to meet Mitsubishi's management, the Dutch news agency ANP said.

Dutch trade unions called the plan “a disaster” for the southern Netherlands, which it said was already hit hard by unemployment.

“This plant is the only one in the Netherlands. It is a gem. Closing it will is a disaster,” Henk van Rees, spokesman for the FNV Bongenoten union which represents between 800 to 900 auto-industry workers at the NedCar plant told AFP.

“In this region, where there is high unemployment, it will be extremely difficult for employees to find other jobs,” Van Rees said about the plant, based in Born in Limburg province where some 1,500 workers stand to lose the jobs.

The Japanese carmaker produces the Colt subcompact and the Outlander sports utility models at the wholly owned unit, located about 180 kilometers (112 miles) southeast of Amsterdam.

Mitsubishi is expected to suffer 22 billion yen (US$287 million) in operating losses in Europe for the fiscal year to March due to stagnant sales in a continent beset by the uncertainty of a raging debt crisis.

It will be the first withdrawal from Europe by a major Japanese carmaker, Japanese media said, adding that Mitsubishi Motors now plans to shift its focus to emerging markets.

Mitsubishi said it would continue selling its own brand cars in Europe with shipments from plants in Japan and Thailand.

“As for the fate of NedCar, we are considering various options such as seeking a third party to maintain the facility,” a Mitsubishi spokeswoman said, adding that it has yet to decide on whether to dismiss the factory's workforce.

Dutch Christian Union (CNV Vakmensen) boss Jean-Marie Severijns told AFP a “European manufacturer” expressed interest in buying the plant by 2015, but he declined to name the potential buyer.

Verhagen however said any sale of the plant should take place “within a year.”

“If that doesn't work I will get an undertaking from Mitsubishi to ensure a good social plan is in place,” he added.

NedCar employees — who were earlier told to go home until Thursday to digest the news — reacted with fury and blocked the factories exits with Mitsubishi vehicles, ANP reported.

Unions said they would hold a protest meeting Tuesday which could grow into a full-blown strike at the plant.

Output at NedCar, which was established in 1991, has remained sharply below its production capacity of 200,000 units a year, contributing to Mitsubishi Motors' operating loss in Europe, reports said.

Fewer than 50,000 cars were assembled in 2010.

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