Mitsubishi Australia has a slick new head office.
The company today opened its new headquarters at Adelaide Airport, signalling the end of its time in Tonsley Park.
The new office features a 100kW solar and battery system, along with two bi-directional and 14 uni-directional vehicle chargers for staff and visitors.
Staff are able to monitor how much energy is coming from the grid, battery, and solar system into the office at any point.
Mitsubishi says it’s currently mapping power usage and intends to lean heavily on renewable energy once it better understands when its staff use power, and how much they use.
“My goal that I want to push is that we’re 100 per cent renewable energy,” Tim Clarke, Mitsubishi Australia product strategy manager, told CarExpert.
The chargers will be used on the brand’s plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Mitsubishi currently offers two Outlander PHEV models in Australia, and will soon have a plug-in version of the smaller Eclipse Cross SUV.
A longer-range Outlander PHEV is due as part of the all-new range, although it hasn’t yet been revealed.
Along with its charging infrastructure, the Adelaide Airport office has new workshops with video conferencing for dealer training, and new facilities for vehicle development and storage.
“This investment acknowledges the importance of Australia to Mitsubishi
Motors Corporation,” said Mitsubishi Motors Australia CEO, Shaun Westcott.
“It also provides a state-of-the-art facility for our people, who come to work each day to deliver Mitsubishi drivers vehicles that are tailored for Australian driving conditions, giving them the freedom to achieve their own ambitions.”
Mitsubishi has had a presence in South Australia for more than 40 years, and built cars locally for 28 years.
Mitsubishi Motors Australia began life in 1980, when the Japanese automaker bought out Chrysler Australia for $79.4 million – around $371 million when inflation is taken into account.
Chrysler and Mitsubishi had already had close ties, with rebadged Mitsubishi products sold during the 1970s with Chrysler badging in Australia and with Dodge and Plymouth branding in North America.
The sale of Chrysler’s Australian operations came amid the American automaker’s perilous financial situation, which also saw it offload its European operations to PSA.
With the purchase of Chrysler’s plants in South Australia, Mitsubishi became the third Japanese carmaker to build its own vehicles Down Under after Toyota and Nissan.
The three Japanese brands controlled 46 per cent of the Australian new car market after the Chrysler sale, narrowly ahead of the 42 per cent combined share owned by Holden and Ford.
