SA: Mitsubishi still rebuilding Australian operations: executive

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SA: Mitsubishi still rebuilding Australian operations: executive

By Tim Dornin, National Motoring Correspondent

ADELAIDE, Aug 13 AAP - Car producer Mitsubishi was still in the process of rebuildingits Australian operations and continued to search the world for the best people and processes,according to a senior executive.

Executive vice president of sales and marketing, Bill Pike, said it was important forpeople to understand that the exercise the company embarked on several years ago, wouldtake some time to achieve.

Despite returning Mitsubishi's manufacturing operations to profitability over the pasttwo years and securing almost $1 billion in investment funds from its parent group inJapan to build two new cars, the local car maker was still working hard to secure newproduct and personnel.

"We have to convince Japan that what we want is leading edge technology," Mr Pike said.

"We're working hard to push that message back to Tokyo."

When it comes to the best people, the marketing boss said it was also difficult attimes to convince those it wanted to make a considerable life change and come to Australiaor to Adelaide.

"It's something of a risk for them to come to an organisation that is rebuilding itself,"

he said.

Mr Pike said Mitsubishi achieved one of its aims this week when it secured the appointmentof Graham Fairhead as general manager of diamond services and product planning.

A graduate in mechanical engineering, manufacturing systems engineering from WarwickUniversity in the United Kingdom, Mr Fairhead was most recently a senior sales and marketingdirector for the MG Rover Group.

In his new role at Mitsubishi he will have overall responsibility for product and marketplanning, special vehicles and the diamond certified vehicles program.

Mitsubishi has also given its network development general manager Martin Quick theadded responsibilities of parts and service marketing, sales planning and distribution,marketing systems, financial planning and administration.

AAP tjd/sl/hu/de

KEYWORD: MOTOR MITSUBISHI