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- U.S. ---------->>>>>>>>>>>->>>>>>>>>>>->>>>>>---- ---->

See Mitsubishi is leaving the U.S.



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repost

 

If Mitsu is depending their sales health on the cashcow SUV market, they are nuts.

How can the modern galants have that many sales? I have only seen 2 on the road since its inception, besides tons on the dealership lot. The 4g eclipse is nice, but it's overpriced, heavy, and too much frills. Yes, it's selling well while the lancer is dropping. As for the 4g eclipse on the road, I have seen them periodically on the road ten to a dozen or so.

Besides, I believe the lancer has too much niche marketing in the US like FTO in Japan. Niche market has never survived in the US for long term profit.

For the past poster within this thread, the FTO was killed in 00 or 02 (don't recall off the top of my head). As for the past powerhouse cars like the GSX and the VR4, they had to died first before the Evo ever step on US shores.

BTW: Mitsu waved the white flag for the compact coupe market when they had failed on the Mirage coupe, overpriced for the engine value comparing to civics. It died whimpering to competition.

 

Just click on SALES VOLUME whe you open the link. They have everything divided by class of vehicle....sedan, coupe, convertible, etc., at the top of the page.

 

They're not, the Outlander is one of many products on the way.

The Galant has been disapointing yes, but maybe the 9Gb redesign along with the Ralliart will improve some. I think more emphasis and engineering dollars are being spend for the 10G world Galant that's only a couple of years away.

Nuff said. You don't like it, fine - but it is selling well. It just helped put the last nail in the coffin of one of its main competitors, the Acura RSX which is gone next year. The Eclipse has more of its "niche market" to itself.

Are you referring to the Lancer, or the Evolution?

I do not agree that they killed off them off in 1999 because they were planning to bring the Evo four years later. I think they were killed because they weren't selling and Mitsu used 3000GT production lines to push out more Montero Sports.

But they have not given up on the subcompact market. I am sure we will see either the Colt or the i-car in a couple of years. Eclipse GS are too close to the segement to make anything similar. Honda, Toyota and Nissan do not have anything like the Eclipse in their lineup as the Celica and Prelude are gone too, so it makes since for them to avoid building a car like that right now.

 

I know the 4g eclipse is selling well. When I was at the dealership looking at the 4g eclipse, I asked for a base model one, but the sales guy said "there were none for the 4 cylinders". It was all in the 22 grand mark with frill. Maybe, they sold out of the??? Then, he steered me towards the GT, and I knew it was way out of my price range. Of course, I have no interest in premium sound system either.

I didn't know the RSX will be gone next year. Nor do I know why? Unless, the new civic takes over the market left by the RSX.

IMO, the 3 and 4g eclipse have blurred the line a bit. It's not a compact car like the RSX or its ilk, but it's almost on par in the market against the Grand AM or G6 or Solara coupe.

Sales were a part of the problem for the GVR4, GSX, and the 3kGT. The GVR4 was ahead of its time, and the market demand wasn't ready for it. The GSX was the pocket rocket concept for a lesser cost comparing to the techno-whiz banging 3KGT VR4. At the time, there was no way that Mitsu was willing to bring the Evo 4-6 in America, too much blurring of the performance market amongst themselves. After all of their death, Mitsu let the market simmer a bit before launching the E7 in America, no performance blurring - the Evo is the top dog in the lineup.

The compact (a slow lingering death for the mirage coupe from 00 to 02) and subcompact (given up by Mitsu after the death of the 3g mirage/summit/colt/cyborg) market has been vacacted by Mitsu for a long time. Unless, Mitsu believed the 3g eclipse was a compact car next to a past gen civic. The colt might sell depending on the market like the Fit and Yaris if Mitsu can somehow overcome the image of bad reliability like GM suffering for the chevy chevette and sprint. Hyundai fixed its reliability problem image after 10 years, and Mitsu has no luxury of such timespan.

Funny thing you have mentioned the Celica. Toyo killed it in favor for the Matrix. GTS owners were howling mad that they detuned their same motor to favor the MAtrix.

As for the PRelude, it was Honda marketing blunder. It became bigger and heavier with each new model. Of course, the integra was outselling it and beat it in performance.

 

I think Mitsubishis unreliability is overblown. According to http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/carrev...ity/index.html (link provided in earlier post by GPTourer) Mitsubishi is ranked #4 (better than Nissan and Mazda). I have owned a couple of Mitsubishi vehicles and never had any problems with them except for usual maintenance and wear and tear parts. My family had a couple of Mitsubishi vehicles and also didn't have any issues.

As long as a given car has been manufactured in Japan, reliability is not an issue. I think that Mitsubishi had quality problems with cars coming out of Normal, IL plant but that has been adressed, at least according to the statistics.

 

in regards to mistsubishi needing to turn a profit in order to stay in the united states, according to that logic then gm should and all the major north american airlines should relocate to europe.

 

GS's outsell GT's, probably like 3 to 1, or at least that's what I observed. I'm not saying the world is not ready for a 26-28K Eclipse, I just don't think they should produce as many of them. They first thought the GT would outsell the GS, I am sure they have since, or in the process of, correcting production mix.

Because its sales suck. And yes, the Civic Si does the same thing an RSX Type S does for thousands less with an LSD.

Exactly, which is the main reason I think it is still able to survive - because its not a peaky compact car 4cyl only high specific NA car like the RSX, Integra, Prelude were. But yet it isn't a frumpy sedan like the Solara and Accord coupe.

Fixed it for you.

It has been a tough nut to crack for every manufacturer. Ever since the Escort fell to the Civic and Corrolla, no other small car has really made a dent in those two juggurnauts almost bioply on the market. The 1G Neon came close, then became a sucky also ran fleet car by its second model.

I don't agree with that. They killed it because its sales sucked because it was too expensive. They could build and sell Scion tC's for cheaper and that car is a smash hit.

Same for the Prelude, not enough people wanting to pay mid ~25K for a 4 cylinder, when all the spocom Honda enthusiasts buy used Civics and put 'Teg motors in them. Most everyone else who bought new would rather have had the Accord Coupe V6 for around the same money.

 

There is another headline in Automotive News today:

" Mitsubishi: We won't leave U.S"
Mitsubishi says it has no plans to leave the United States. Hiroshi Harunari, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., said the company has been selling vehicles in the United States for 25 years...

The rest is for subscribers only. Now they have to step up to really back up their statement with strong advertising and planned product, or risk being written off as double talk.

 

I see no way that they would actually leave the US entirely, not supporting the cars that they have sold here.

--
Brian

 

I don't agree with that. They killed it because its sales sucked because it was too expensive. They could build and sell Scion tC's for cheaper and that car is a smash hit.
================================

After their intial 2 year run, Toyo decided to detuned the Celica GTS to steer buyers toward the MAtrix. At that time, GTS owners cried foul. When the Celica died, the Matrix was hot; eventually, their sales slumped before the arrival of the Scion lineup. It's the lifecycle of Toyo's marketing department steering the public consumption.


^^
Best example: Look how GM shaped the image of Caddy. In the 80's to mid-90's, it was generally an old man's car or just a retro, pimp-daddy thing. In the late 90's, they were involved with racing and designed their cars with sharp contour; eventually, their age demographics changed from the 50-60's to the mid 30's to 40's with money who were looking for a sport luxury car. In the past, Buick was in demographic limbo until the remake of Caddy's image. Now, Buick is an old man's car.


Besides, no one here expects topline models to sell extremely well. It's like saying GM expects, during that time, the ZR1 or Calloway to sell 1/10 of their overall C4 vette sales. That's why I don't blame all the sales folly on the GVR4, GSX, and VR4. It could be same said for Mitsu on the Evo to gobble up 1/10 of overall US lancer sales.


As for Mitsu's image problem from another poster, go ask the average car buyer, not car nuts like us or others across the internet. They can be a dad buying a car for his 16 year-old daughter, old people, rednecks, big wigs, stereotypical dumb blondes, or various others . . . When you ask the average joe smoe about Honda or Toyo, you already know the answer whether it's purely fiction or half-truth. Ask about GM or Ford, you'll get another set of response. Mitsu generally illicits a sour response whether from experience or just hearsay.

I generally discount sites with: IhateFord.com, MitsuSucks.org, or DieDrivingGM . . . I expects tons of negative blacklash from disgruntled people.



Now they have to step up to really back up their statement with strong advertising and planned product, or risk being written off as double talk.
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The last ad that I saw a lot from Mitsu was the 3g eclipse (dancing girl) and the galant doing stunts until now very little 4g eclipse for the first 4 month of its inception.

 

The May numbers look pretty horrific. If you leave out the not so whopping 895 new spyder model sales, the other model sales were actually DOWN. A 4% increase from a horrific previous year is NOT good news, no matter how much MMNA spins it.

 

Well on month to month basis Mitsubishi is doing a bit better for the past year considering that they got rid of fleet sales (which I guess inflated the sales numbers but decreased Mitsus residual value). But in all reality, at least that is my opinion, I think Mitsubishis numbers won't really improve (and they may actually decrease a bit) until they won't release the new cars based on the Lancer platform and the new global Galant.

Mitsubishi with their current stagnant car lineup isn't going to improve any sales. Even from the recent reviews of Mitsubishi officials it seems that they really have high hopes for the new Lancer platform cars. I don't think the current crop of cars will save Mitsubishis sales in USA. Mitsubishi will have to grind it out until the new Outlander (should be available in US in 2006 Fall), Lancer (should be here in early 2007), Lancer Evo (mid-2007, but it's really a niche car and I don't think it will sale as much as the two mentioned cars), and Galant (which should be available in mid 2008 as a 2009 model) will become available.

 

good let this thread die...