Mitsubishi Motors Corp will reduce the production capacity of a major plant inOkayama prefecture by about 40 per cent this year, the Nikkei said.
The automaker, which had earlier streamlined its overseas production by withdrawing from Europe and Australia, will reduce the annual capacity at the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki to 350,000 units, the Japanese daily said.
The plant now produces the Galant Fortis sedan, the Delica commercial vehicle for export, and the eK Wagon minivehicle, among other models, the paper said.
The company will consolidate four lines at the plant into two, the paper said, adding the move will push up the operating rate at the facility to around 70 per cent from below 40 per cent at present.
The combined output of Mitsubishi Motors' three largest plants in Japan - the Mizushima facility and two sites in Aichi and Gifu prefectures, will fall from 950,000 units a year to around 700,000 units, the Nikkei said.