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No one wants to buy Mitsubishi's only US plant

Mitsubishi Motors will very likely close its factory in Normal, IL, later this year after failing to find another company in the auto market to take over its only manufacturing site in the US. "We have given up looking for an automaker to buy the plant, but we are looking for possible buyers from other industries," a Mitsubishi spokesperson told Reuters. Mitsubishi announced plans to leave the site in 2015 to shift its business strategy toward Asia. The factory started as a joint venture with Chrysler in 1988 and was the only plant from a Japanese automaker in the US with a UAW-represented workforce. This was allegedly a sticking point when finding a buyer because other companies in the industry didn't want to take on the union employees' contract. The Normal factory ended assembly of the Outlander Sport in November 2015 and laid off 1,000 workers at that time. The site will continue to make car parts until May, and then Mitsubishi will let go of the remaining 250 employees. The costs of shutting down the factory could be as high as 30 billion yen ($255 million), but a company spokesperson wouldn't confirm that figure to Reuters. Mitsubishi's fortunes seem on the upswing in the US as of late. The company's deliveries jumped 22.8 percent in 2015 to a total of 95,342 vehicles, and the last fiscal year brought the automaker's first operating profit in this region in seven years. Related Video:

Autoblog Minute: VW finds CO2 'irregularities', Takata dropped by automakers, SEMA recap

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle, US regulators hit Takata Corporation with a substantial fine, and we head to Las Vegas for a look at tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle. US regulators issue a significant fine to Takata Corporation. And we take a peek inside tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. The VW diesel emissions scandal, first brought to light in September, gets a new wrinkle, as an internal investigation by the German automaker revealed [00:00:30] irregularities in CO2 emissions that could affect approximately 800,000 vehicles. VW estimates the issue could pose a 2-billion euro economic risk. VW claims that most of the vehicles affected have diesel engines, but industry analysts say a 1.4-liter gas engine is also affected. VW says that fuel consumption figures were set too low during the CO2 certification process. During all of this, sales of some diesel-powered Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche models [00:01:00] have been halted. Takata Corporation is back in the news in connection with its deadly airbag scandal. Federal regulators fined Takata $70 million. If the parts supplier does not comply, the fine could balloon to $200 million. Takata was also dropped this week by its biggest customer, Honda. And now, Toyota and Mazda will be following Honda's lead in dropping Takata. We're also hearing that Mitsubishi and Subaru are considering a switch in air-bag inflator suppliers. SEMA 2015 [00:01:30] came and went. We saw offerings from Mopar, like the AWD Challenger concept. Honda unveiled a Ridgeline that it will race at the Baja 1000, which gives us a hint at what future production model could look like. The celebrity presence was also felt in Vegas as it always is. Kid Rock brought a Duramax Diesel Chevy Silverado, and Acura restored and presented Ludacris with his now famous 1993 Acura Legend. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to come back on Saturday for my full recap, [00:02:00] where I'll have some added insight into Hyundai's foray into the luxury sector. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive.

VW Finds CO2 'Irregularites', SEMA Recap, and More | Autoblog Minute

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle, US regulators hit Takata Corporation with a substantial fine, and we head to Vegas for a look at tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. Autoblog Senior Editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Acura Chevrolet Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Toyota Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video Acura Legend