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This Is Where The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Is Made

By: Author Stefan K.

Posted on Last updated:

Categories Crossovers & SUV's

This Is Where The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Is Made

We’ve written extensively about the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and its capabilities on this blog. Today we’re going to look at where the Eclipse Cross is made. This seems to be a straightforward question, but this car consists of many components (engine, transmission, tires, etc.) made in different parts of the world. Let’s start with a quick answer:

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is assembled in Okazaki, Japan, or Hunan, China, for the American market. Mitsubishi makes the engines in Shiga, Japan, or Hunan, China. The transmissions are made in Japan, Mexico, China, or Thailand. Furthermore, the SUV was designed by Tsunehiro Kunimoto, who’s Japanese.

However, that certainly doesn’t answer the question entirely. Below, we’ll first dive into detail about the assembly location. After, that we’ll give you the complete rundown of where the engines are made, and we’ll do the same for all transmissions used in this vehicle. Finally, we’ll talk about how to identify which tires you have and where they are manufactured precisely. Read on!

What's Inside show

Assembly Locations Per Generation

The first and only current generation of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross started production in 2018 and is currently still manufactured. For the Eclipse Cross, Mitsubishi has decided to have assembly take place in the same location as where the Outlander is assembled. For most Eclipse Cross, this means they are assembled in the Okazaki Plant in Okazaki, Japan.

However, another assembly plant is also being used for the assembly of this car. This assembly plant is located in Changsha, Hunan, in China, where the car is manufactured by GAC Mitsubishi. GAC Mitsubishi is a partnership between the GAC group (which owns 50% of the facility), Mitsubishi Motors (30%), and Mitsubishi Corporation (20%). The ownership for this plant is split because Chinese manufacturing plants usually are partially owned by Chinese companies.

1) Okazaki, Japan 2) Hunan, China

All of this also means that no generation of the Eclipse Cross is assembled in the United States. The reason for this is that Mitsubishi closed its Diamond-Star Motors plant in Normal, Illinois, in February 2016. This is the location where the original Mitsubishi Eclipse was assembled. This closure also meant that Mitsubishi has no assembly location in the United States, and cars are almost exclusively made in Asia.

Engines

For the first generation of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, Mitsubishi uses three gasoline engines and one diesel engine. The gasoline engines are the 4B40, 4B11, and 4B12. The diesel engine is the 4N14. These engines are all manufactured by Mitsubishi themselves. The company has two main production facilities for the engines. The first one is located in Shiga, Japan. The other location has been open since 2017 and is located in Hunan, China (the same region as where the car is assembled.

Also read: Types Of Gas A Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Takes (Explained)

Transmissions

The Eclipse Cross uses transmissions that three different manufacturers make. First of all, the Eclipse Cross has an INVECS-III 6-speed and 8-speed CVT transmission, which JATCO makes. JATCO is a Japanese transmission manufacturer that is co-owned by Nissan and Mitsubishi. The company has manufacturing plants in Fuji, Japan; Aguascalientes, Mexico; Guangzhou, China; and Chon Buri, Thailand. It’s safe to assume that these transmissions have been made there.

1) Fuji, Japan 2) Aguascalientes, Mexico 3) Guangzhou, China 4) Chon Buri, Thailand

Another transmission the car uses is the GKN Multi-Mode eTransmission. This transmission is made by GKN, headquartered in London, England, but the company has 51 manufacturing locations around the globe.

Finally, there’s also an 8-speed automatic that’s linked to the 2.2L diesel engines. This is the Aisin AWF8F35. Specifically, this transmission is made by Aisin AW, which has manufacturing locations in Anjō and Okazaki, Japan.

There’s also a 6-speed manual, but it’s unclear which transmission this is and who makes it.

Tires

Unfortunately, Mitsubishi has no information available about what brand of tires come stock on the Eclipse Cross. Therefore, it’s impossible to give information about this. However, there is a way to figure this out yourself.

Suppose you want to know exactly where the tires of your Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross are made, then you can look up the DOT code on the side of your tires. This code is not that large, so you’ll have to take a moment to find it. It’s an extended code of letters and numbers that starts with the letters ‘DOT’. DOT stands for Department Of Transportation.

After the DOT letters, you’ll find a combination of three letters, numbers, or a mix. You can search on the internet for the specific three number/letter combination you have to find the exact manufacturer and location where the tires are made. For example, ‘1M3’. In this case, 1M3 indicates Michelin makes the tire in Greenville, South Carolina.

Who Designed The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross?

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross was designed by Tsunehiro Kunimoto, who was Vice President of Design at Mitsubishi from 2014 – 2020, where he retired at 69 years old. Tsunehiro Kunimoto had a long history in design and art. He graduated from Musashino Art University in 1975. This was also the year when he started working for Nissan, where he, after 20 years, became Vice President of the design department in the United States.

At Nissan, he got promoted to design director in 2000 and to general manager of the Global Design Department in 2008. He left Nissan in 2014 and started working at Mitsubishi in the same role as general manager of the Design Department, where he was promoted to Senior Executive Officer in 2016.

At Nissan, Kunimoto worked on the design of the Skyline and the concept car that would eventually become the 350Z. At Mitsubishi, he worked on the concept of the Mi-Tech, Engelberg, and E-evolution cars.

Is The Eclipse Cross American-Made?

The Eclipse Cross is not American-made. The car is assembled in Okazaki, Japan, or Hunan, China. The engines are made in Hunan, China, or Shiga, Japan, and the transmissions are made in Japan, Mexico, China, or Thailand. Furthermore, the Eclipse Cross was designed by a Japanese designer named Tsunehiro Kunimoto.

Sources

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