Mitsubishi’s CEO Gilligan Retires

Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc.’s Rich Gilligan, co-president and co-CEO, is retiring tomorrow, the auto maker says.

Gilligan, 62, arrived at MMNA in January 2005, after the sudden departure the previous month of Finnbar O’Neill, MMNA’s former CEO.

Gilligan was president and chief operating officer of Mitsubishi’s sole North American assembly plant in Normal, IL, for seven years.

Earlier this year, the auto maker placed Hiroshi Harunari in the co-president and co-CEO roles with Gilligan.

“I feel completely comfortable retiring to spend some long overdue time with my family. MMNA is in very good hands,” Gilligan says in a statement. He plans to relocate from California to the southeast U.S.

“I firmly believe that Hiroshi Harunari has business headed in the right direction at MMNA, and I expect great things for the company's hardworking employees and committed dealers,” he says.

Gilligan started out in the auto industry as a line worker at Ford Motor Co.’s Mahwah, NJ, plant, eventually rising to managerial positions within Ford manufacturing before joining Mitsubishi.