Japan's Mitsubishi Motors said on Wednesday it will sell its car plant in Netherlands, its only factory in Western Europe, to local busmaker VDL for 1 euro ($1.23), on condition that its 1,500 employees do not lose their jobs.
Mitsubishi Motors decided in February to end production by the end of this year at the Netherlands Car or NedCar plant, where it builds the Colt subcompact and the Outlander sport utility vehicle, with automakers facing sluggish demand in western Europe.
German premium carmaker BMW said last month it was considering building vehicles at the NedCar plant, and Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported earlier that VDL was set to start producing small cars at the plant for BMW.
Mitsubishi Motors' statement made no reference to BMW. NedCar, located in Born in the southern Netherlands near the borders with Belgium and Germany, started in 1991 as a three-way venture between Mitsubishi Motors, Volvo and the Dutch government. Mitsubishi Motors became the sole shareholder in 2001 after buying out its partners.
Mitsubishi Motors' sales in Europe hit 340,000 vehicles in 2007/08 but slipped to 218,000 in 2011/12.
indiatimes.com