It happened on December 8th: Mitsubishi car sales begin in the U.S.

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After building vehicles for other brands including Chrysler, Mitsubishi began selling its own cars in the U.S. on December 8th, 1981.

The company was originally founded in 1873 by Yataro Iwasaki. It has been manufacturing automobiles since 1917, and held the 4th place among Japanese automakers for a long time (behind Toyota, Honda, and Nissan). It now ranks 6th after being trumped by Suzuki and Mazda.

Source: Wikipedia