Automotive
How Chrysler and Mitsubishi's 1980s Partnership Anticipated Modern Automotive Alliances
A joint venture driven by trade quotas helped pioneer the platform-sharing strategies commonly used by global automakers today.
The short version
- In the 1980s, Chrysler and Mitsubishi transitioned from a strategy of importing and rebadging Japanese cars to co-building vehicles in the United States.
- The collaboration, named Diamond-Star Motors, was partly motivated by voluntary export quotas that restricted the flow of vehicles from Japanese operations.
- This historical venture helped establish the blueprint for modern automotive alliances that share the high costs of vehicle platform development.
Key facts
- Chrysler and Mitsubishi established Diamond-Star Motors in the 1980s to manufacture cars together in the United States.[MotorTrend]
- Before Diamond-Star Motors, Chrysler relied heavily on importing and rebadging Mitsubishi vehicles, a practice known as selling captive imports.[MotorTrend]
- The joint venture was initiated in part to bypass voluntary export quotas on Japanese automakers, which threatened Chrysler's plans to expand its compact car lineup.[MotorTrend]
- The collaborative model used in the partnership prefigured modern automotive practices of sharing platform development costs across different brands.[MotorTrend]