Mitsubishi to idle Ill. factory for 7 weeks

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to stop building vehicles at its Illinois plant for seven weeks starting in mid-February, as the company struggles with a 25 percent drop in U.S. sales this year.

Assembly of Galant sedans, Spyder and Eclipse coupes and Endeavor sport-utility vehicles at the Normal factory will be halted beginning Feb. 16, Dan Irvin, a spokesman for the Tokyo- based automaker, said today in an interview. The employees will be kept on for maintenance duty and training, he said.