NORMAL - A Mitsubishi Motors North America supplier will close its Twin City office but still serve the Normal auto plant from another location next year.

Yazaki North America, 2002 Eagle Road, Normal, will close by March, though the transition will begin by the year's end, said Susan Mendenhall, spokeswoman for Yazaki North America Inc., headquartered in Canton, Mich.

"It's a challenging time," Mendenhall said. "This effect on the auto industry is across the board. … Everyone's volume is down."

The Bloomington-Normal distribution and sales office, which opened in 1988, has about 20 employees. No manufacturing is done at the location. Its only client is MMNA.

The distribution operations will move to Edwardsville, Mendenhall said, while sales, finance and office control work will move to Columbus, Ohio.

The company has offered transfers and severance packages to Twin City workers, she said, but it's too early to know how many people might lose their jobs.

The auto industry is in the midst of a downward spiral as consumers struggle to obtain car loans or are leery of spending money in today's soft economy. Mitsubishi's U.S. sales through October totaled 87,591, a 23.9 percent drop from 2007.

Yazaki supplies Mitsubishi with wire harnesses and combi-meters, said plant spokesman Dan Irvin.

All of the electrical wiring in a car is bundled together into one wire harness that is routed through the vehicle during assembly, Irvin said. Combi-meters are comprised of the gauges on the instrument panel, he said.

"It's a very challenging time for the auto industry and, in fact, for all of the manufacturing sector," Irvin said. "All manufacturers' production volumes are shrinking and raw materials costs are increasing, creating an excruciating situation for suppliers. Everyone up and down the supply chain, in every industry, is facing the same challenging issues."

Yazaki has 20 North America offices in the U.S. and Canada. At this time, no other offices are scheduled to close, Mendenhall said.