Mitsubishi closes SoCal design center

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Mitsubishi Motors closed its vehicle design center in Cypress this week, the latest move by an automaker to cut design costs.

The closing, which eliminated about 30 jobs, comes as Mitsubishi consolidates its design work at its main corporate headquarters in Tokyo. A Mitsubishi design center in Germany will remain open but with a greatly reduced staff.

“The company’s commitment has been to design global vehicles, and having a single design studio is consistent with that strategy,” said Dan Irvin, spokesman for Mitsubishi Motors North America. The automaker will maintain its U.S. headquarters in Cypress, where it employs 470 people, Irvin said.

The Mitsubishi design center opened in 1984. The last car on which it contributed significant design work was the Eclipse Spyder convertible, which went on sale in 2006, Irvin said.

Automakers have been cutting back on design and product planning costs as they try to survive the worst downturn for the industry since 1981. Mitsubishi is suffering worse than most. It sold almost 51% fewer cars and trucks in the U.S. in February than a year ago, compared with an industry-wide drop of 41.4%.

Chrysler closed its advanced design center in Carlsbad last year, eliminating about 25 jobs.

-- Martin Zimmerman