Sorry to bring this up again, but when I went in to my local dealer for an oil change (Capitol Mistubishi in San Jose CA) the service guy told me that Mitsu is spending more money in the US to bring up its sales numbers. This is in stark contrast to the reports I've been hearing for the past two years that Mitsu will be leaving the US market. He defintely stated otherwise - that Mitsu is determined to stay - at least for the time being. He mentioned new cars coming down the pike - like supposedly a hybrid Evo and a new Eclipse.

Of course coming from a dealer you have to take that with a grain of salt. I say that because a year ago, when I went to a different Mitsu dealer, they stated that Mitsubishi's future was unclear at the time. That particular dealer ended up dropping their Mitsubishi affiliation. I think they sell only Ford now.

Well, I hope what my current dealer says is true - that Mitsu is staying put.

 

My dealer says the same thing as yours, they're trying!

 

I just can't see any major, Asian car-maker giving up on the US. That would leave South America and China as the main two expansion options, since Mitsu is already in Australia, and Mitsu has some deal with Hyundai with regard to China. In any event, I thought that their plans for a hybrid were aimed at the US, as was, to a certain extent, the Outlander, before (since the profit margin on SUVs is up there with pick-ups).

More likely, to me, even if it sounds crazy, is another joint-venture with Chrysler.

 

Another DSM...?

Ugh...they'll end up broken all the damn time then.

I'd love to see a revival of the AWD Turbo Eclipse.

 

I'm a tad confused. Do you like AWD Eclipses (which are all DSMs) or not?

If you're asking that Mitsu simply add AWD to the current Eclipse, I'd be down with that ... as long as they redesigned the body to look less like a Kardashian.

 

For them to stay... they need to release new vehicles AND revised (next gen) every 4 years MAX. Should be 2-3 years. Most companies now are pumping out something new or revised vehicle every 2-3 years. Even a new body kit... new bumper, headlights, tail lights... It is considered REVISED who cares. It will be keep the market going and keep people interested. Look at GM and Ford for example. Mitsu had their lancer body for how long now? 6 at least maybe more years? That doesn't fly anymore. Even then... Possibly marketing decided or whomever even said okay to this idea: "want 6 speed? get SST", how about a F U and give me a 6 speed MANUAL while still offering SST? Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with my GSR (coming from MR) but 5 speed is from the god damn 80s ffs. JDM/UK models get all the bells and whistle (push start, CF interior pieces etc) or even better looking interior accesories where as USDM gets jack **** which needs to change and that is simply for their FLAGSHIP vehicle. I would NEVER spend ANY money on ANY of the other vehicles like the outlander let alone 35-40 grand... For base market, mitsu makes extremely terrible vehicles. I would much rather get a Honda or a Nissan. Hell, would even get a GM or Ford over it. For a non-performance vehicle, it is all about bells and whistles plus interior which Mitsu does NOT have on ANY of their models. Let alone in the evo.

Look at Nissan over the past 8 years. How many new innovations they have made, how many revised, how many new vehicles they pumped out and look at Mitsu. Laughable. As a company, even the rumor of "we are pulling out of the market" should not be said. That is just terrible.

I would love to see Mitsu being more viable but if they want to do what they can to "stay" they need to get their **** together.

 

Should have elaborated a bit more on my DSM comment. I wouldn't mind another DSM as long as it wasn't powered by anything from Fiat/Chrysler. Fix the issues obviously and produce a car that people won't have problems with from the factory. I actually have 2 AWD Eclipses. 1G and 2G and the 1G outperforms the 2G in almost all aspects.

The current Eclipse actually looks good. I had one before I bought my Ralliart. It was the GT-P Convertible and it was quite a fun car with a big 3.8l v6 and a 6 speed manual transmission. The current Eclipse has 2 examples of what Mitsu could have done to revive the GSX. They have Evo 9 non-AYC AWD systems and Evo 9 power plants with suspension by Mullerized... Gorgeous cars but a shame it never came to fruition.

If another Eclipse comes I would love for it to be a rendition of the Concept RA. That would be a fun, AWD, less carbon emitting sport compact for a market that is for the most part devoid of a Diesel engine option in the US.

 

Mitsu does not have the deep pockets to fund the engineering/testing/ect that a new major model revision requires. They don't have the money to support major car shows, they don't have the money for advertising... Cumulative effect is an also-ran car company that without a major infusion of cash (for example, Hyundai buys a controlling interest...) results in the day when mitsu goes the way of Suzuki...

Mazda was in similar shape as Ford funding dried up and the marriage ended. But Mazda is doing a do-or-die investment in a new line of cars and pushing hard. They seem to be making headway and getting good reviews from press and improved car sales...

Me? Fire the Mitsu CEO and board of directors in favor of a band of brigands who would team with another major company and make the investments required to be successful. Go For It! (before it is too late)

My $.02

 

It would be insane for Mitsu to leave US. This is still the largest car market in the world, and to make it globally they will have to stay in it. I think that they should pair up with another car manufacturer, like mazda or suziki, at least on their dealerships. It costs a lot of money to keep dealerships going and the biggest problem with mitsu is that they don't have enough of them around.

 

The dealership issue was one of the reasons I was leary about getting an Evo and I absolutely love the car. No dealerships within 40 miles of me (two within 50 miles and I'm in NYC/Tri-state area). Then I look at other car companies and new, hi-tech, fancy dealerships are popping up everywhere.

Creating a partnership with an established company with a strong network of dealerships will certainly help sales. I think the current line of Mitsu cars are attractive models, but they do need better trims/updated features/more commercials.

Anyway, their stock was up 8.0 yen today so things are looking up!

 

Mitsubishi (Parent Company) has very deep pockets. It is one of the largest companies in Japan. It has the money, it may just not care to spend it on Mitsubishi Motors North America. It's all about return on investment.

 

If you are referring to the Mitsubishi keiretsu, then, yes, it's huge. It's one of the largest at something like a quarter trillion US dollars per year. The Mitsu Motors part, however, isn't very large, especially when you ignore the heavy stuff and only look at the cars. And keiretsus aren't as free to move money around as they used to be.

In short, depending on your definition of a Japanese car company, Mitsu is huge or almost small.

 

I was going to say the same thing.

Like everyone else has said, the US market is too big for them to just give up on. While their market share is pretty small at the moment, it's slowly growing, as the Outlander Sport seems to do decent numbers... perhaps not when you compare it to what the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V sell, but compare the number of dealerships and it doesn't seem too bad.

The problem is, whatever Mitsubishi has been working on won't be on dealership lots for a few more years. So while a lot of people have been brushing aside a lot of Mitsubishi's US offerings from the past several years, remember that a lot of those were likely under development in the early/mid 2000s, when they started to lose their market share. So even if they know that their products (outside of the Evo) sucked, it's not like they can have replacements lined up in time for the next model year.

Someone mentioned Nissan, but they also had their dark years, and Carlos Ghosn's plans to revive the brand took a few years to really take off and materialize. They're doing well and aren't even really making class-leading cars (outside of the GT-R), as their bread-and-butter cars (Altima, Sentra, etc.) still seem to fall behind its counterparts from Honda, Toyota, etc. and have unrefined motors but still manage to sell and generate profits.

 

every year for the last 10 years that I can remember, there have been credible rumors directly from the president or news or dealership or whatever, of the following:

-Mits leaving US
-last year of Eclipse
-new Eclipse will be hybrid
-last year of Evo
-new Evo will be hybrid
-new Evo will be diesel
-new Evo will be half gas half electric

And every year, none of the above ever happens.

 

Well, it's not as if there has been a "new" Evo since those announcements that didn't fit the description. We've just been offered the Evo X more or less the same way it has been available since 2007.