General Motors has just given out awards to its best suppliers. The companies that help it make the vehicles that its stylists and engineers have created. This year’s winner for the top prize is a company we would never have expected. The trophy was awarded to Mitsubishi, and it is the fourth time that GM has awarded it to them.
However, the automotive world is nothing if not complex, especially when it comes to Mitsubishi. The name, and even its iconic logo, apply to many different companies that aren’t necessarily related.
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Mitsubishi GM Supplier AwardMitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger
Specifically, GM awarded Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America (MTEA) a Supplier of the Year prize for 2025, its fourth win. The award is given out to the supplier that has the best “total performance in business with GM,” which includes things like staying on time, problem-solving, and quality control.
This arm of Mitsubishi won multiple awards from GM this year. It also got one for Excellence in Performance from the part of GM that handles customer-support and after-sales service.
Is It Really That Mitsubishi?
Mitsubishi Turbocharger and EngineMitsubishi
To be clear, despite the name and the same three-diamond logo, MTEA isn’t the same Mitsubishi that makes vehicles like the Outlander. This company is a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger, which falls under the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group (MHI) umbrella. MHI is a part owner of Mitsubishi Motors, but controls just 1.44%. Mitsubishi Corporation holds a larger share, and if the word Mitsubishi is starting to scramble your brain at this point, we understand. Mega-corporate groups in Japan like this, called keiretsu, are a rabbit’s warren of corporate structures.
This part of the company builds industrial and marine engines, including 2,000-horsepower, 80-liter (yes 80 liters), 16-cylinder ship engines. It also builds turbochargers, which is where GM comes in. Mitsubishi Turbocharger builds the turbos for most of GM’s engines in the US, including for the 1.5-liter used in the Chevy Equinox, and the 3.6-liter in the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing.
Modern engine and vehicle designs are so complex and highly integrated that the suppliers play a part even during the earliest development. Mitsubishi Turbocharger says that it worked closely with GM’s engineers on developing its products. The turbos involved here were built at a plant in Franklin, Indiana, where Mitsubishi has built more than 6.5 million turbos in the last 10 years.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
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Mitsubishi and other Mitsubishi aren’t as involved as the companies may have been in the past, but it’s still strange to see the three diamonds under the hood of cars from another brand. The first time an executive at GM heard that it was about to give Mitsubishi a trophy, there was probably some explaining to be done.
It goes both ways, though. There was a time when you could have expected to see the AC or Delphi Automotive logos on parts of all sorts of brands. It was the major OE supplier that was part of GM into the late 1990s, but has since traded hands to become Aptiv.
Source: Mitsubiushi Heavy Industries
