An EVO is a low-volume niche vehicle. How many do you think they sell in the USA each year, compared to the number of Galants, Monteros and Eclipses they'd like to sell? As good as it is, the EVO can't save MMNA.

 

who cares?

 

I love it when people say the Evo is gonna save Mitsu. The Evo is flat out not gonna save em period. There are still 03 Evo's on some of Mitsu's lots NEW! Never been titled! That to me does not indicate a car that is gonna save mitsu. The car that is gonna save mitsu is the new Eclipse...period. That car may get them out of the hole enough to see some daylight. The Eclipse HAS to be a winner or they are gonna sink fast. Cause the current one is outdated and not the "style" anymore.

The new outlander may also save em. It is going to be a 7 passenger SUV in 06 or 07, I can't remember. They need to see the cars that are selling around them, take that as an example and make it just a tad better with a huge warranty. It is not a hard concept. Mitsu in my opinion is probably not going to die per say, but they need help!

 

O'Neill: Deutsch review had nothing to do with departure
Former Mitsubishi North America boss says he initiated the move

By Ralph Kisiel and Kathy Jackson
Automotive News / January 05, 2005


Finbarr O’Neill, former CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America, says he did not leave Mitsubishi because he was upset over the December announcement that the company’s longtime ad agency, Deutsch Inc., was going up for review.

In fact, O’Neill says that he was “a prime initiator” of the agency review.

“I fully support the review,” O’Neill says. “I believe it’s necessary in going forward. I proposed it at a dealer meeting not too long ago, and all 17 dealers present raised their hands in support.”

O’Neill, 52, resigned from struggling Mitsubishi Monday, Jan. 3, and yesterday said that he will be the next CEO of the Reynolds and Reynolds Co. in Dayton, Ohio, one of the two largest software and technology providers to dealerships in the United States.

He takes over the CEO role from Phil Odeen, who had been acting CEO since Buzz Waterhouse resigned in July. Odeen remains as Reynolds’ chairman.

Mitsubishi's U.S. manufacturing president, Rich Gilligan, will replace O'Neill.

Sources inside and outside Mitsubishi said the agency review was a complete surprise to O’Neill and the rest of the marketing staff. Mitsubishi is about to launch two key products: the redesigned Eclipse, which is due to go on sale in late spring, and a mid-sized pickup, which will go on sale in the fall.

A Mitsubishi dealer who requested anonymity and is familiar with the agency review says that O’Neill was not 100 percent behind it.

The sources say Deutsch already was working on teaser ads for the Eclipse. The agency review is for 90 days, ending in March. The sources say that no way would O’Neill initiate a review so close to the release of Mitsubishi’s halo product, the Eclipse.

Mitsubishi held its Christmas lunch at Deutsch on Dec. 1. At that time, O'Neill told Automotive News that as Mitsubishi tries to rebound in this country “at the heart of the brand will be the new Eclipse.”

When asked directly if he initiated the agency review, O’Neill replied, “Absolutely.

“So I’m a full proponent of that,” O’Neill says. “I think it’s appropriate for Mitsubishi at this stage to take a look at its options going forward, where the best ideas may be. I think that Deutsch will have a full and fair opportunity to participate.”

O’Neill’s departure from Mitsubishi has “nothing to do with the agency review issue,” he stresses. “I fully support that direction.”

Chuck Barber, chairman of the Mitsubishi dealer council, says he is surprised and disappointed in O’Neill’s sudden departure.

“I still think Finbarr was the right man for the job,” says Barber, owner of Barber Brothers in Orem, Utah.

Barber says the dealership body will get through the change.

“We have a strong dealer body, and I think it’s the dealer body that can make this franchise work,” Barber says. “We'll get through it. We’re survivors.”

Barber calls Gilligan, O’Neill’s replacement, “a good guy.

“He took over the factory when it was a nightmare: the sexual harassment, racial discrimination,” Barber says. “I think he walked into a worse mess (at the plant) than we are in now (on the sales side). But he made a showplace of that factory. Maybe he can do the same thing in his new job.”