In 1985, Mitsubishi announced that they would build an assembly plant in Normal, Illinois, as a joint venture with Chrysler Corp., Called Diamond-Star Motors. Mitsubishi knew that to succeed, they would need a strong, proven supplier base to support them in the U.S. So they asked our parent companies to build a plant in the U.S. near the Diamond-Star plant to continue supplying them with the same quality products that they had supplied for decades in Japan. The original 16 parent companies formed a corporation called Nippon Eagle Wings, and made preparations to build a new state-of-the-art facility in Rantoul, Illinois - which they named Eagle Wings Industries. The decades of experience and technical knowledge achieved in Japan was ingrained into the EWI facility from the first shovel of dirt, and continues to play a vital role in the way we do business today, in our business philosophy and our associates' attitudes and work ethics. Some of our parent companies have supplied Mitsubishi Motor Corp. in Japan with quality automotive chassis sub-assemblies for more than 60 years. Over the years they have developed new technologies and processes. Some of these designs and processes are protected by patent laws.