There’s a Mitsubishi under the hood of the Chevrolet Equinox, and GM just awarded it

General Motors has chosen Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America (MTEA) as one of its 2025 Suppliers of the Year. It is the fourth time that the company has received the award, delivered at the 34th edition of the automaker’s annual awards, which this year included 103 suppliers from 14 countries.

The recognition evaluates the overall performance of the relationship with GM: sub-supplier management, meeting schedules, responding to development proposals, ability to solve problems and quality control to reduce defects in the field.

Not the Mitsubishi you know

Despite the name and the three diamonds in the logo, MTEA has no direct relationship with Mitsubishi Motors, maker of the Outlander and L200. It is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger (MHIET), an arm of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) group that produces industrial and marine engines, as well as turbochargers.

The two groups intersect on paper, but little: according to the American website CarBuzz, MHI owns only 1.44% of Mitsubishi Motors, a much smaller stake than that of Mitsubishi Corporation, the third company to share the same name and the same symbol.

In practice, this means that there are parts signed by a Mitsubishi under the hood of American cars. Also according to CarBuzz, MTEA supplies the turbos for most GM engines in the United States, including the 1.5 turbo of the Chevrolet Equinox and the 3.6 V6 biturbo of 479 hp of the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing.

Plant in Indiana is the key

piece Production is in Franklin, Indiana, and the location is not accidental: the plant was installed near the engine factories of the main customers. According to the company, the turbochargers are developed from the first stages of the projects in conjunction with GM engineers. The unit completed ten years in November 2025 and has accumulated 6.5 million parts produced, with a goal of reaching 10 million by 2030.

There is a little-explored point in the repercussion of the award. MHIET says it has been reorganizing its supply chain in North America to comply with the USMCA, the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, in response to the advance of protectionism and the intensification of trade disputes. The proximity of the Indiana plant to GM’s engine lines is part of this strategy.

It was not the only recent recognition. On February 20 of this year, MTEA was among the ten suppliers awarded by GM Customer Care and Aftersales, the division responsible for customer service and aftersales, in an evaluation that considered punctuality of delivery and variety of products.

Passenger car turbo, however, is only one slice of the business. The same MHIET manufactures 16-cylinder, 80-liter displacement marine engines, capable of delivering about 2,028 hp.