Do do think Mitsu could increase US Evo sales by selling a 100% JDP spec Evo MR with left hand drive, rather than the watered down MR Edition?

 

Stop thinking that the Evo will become or is the savor of Mitsu. It's like saying Ford depends its future on the 'stang GT or GM's pinning all its hope on the C6 vette.

Mitsu needs to sell a hell out of the lancer, eclipse, and galant. Not more Evos!

It's pure arrogance to even think along this line.


BTW: will the Evo outsell the regular lancer, eclipse, or galant or even dare I say COMBINED? If anyone say so, you are not living in reality. Put the booze down and smell the roses.

 

YES, cuz at least i know i will trade mine in for the MR then......

 

Here is the bottom line, will you pay 40k+ for it?? I 've talked with the guys at MMNA at length about this, if you want a full JDM spec car you are going to pay for it. How many people are already questioning the price of the MR. Now make it 40k plus the markup that some of these stores are charging and you have a Mitsu for the price of a Porsche. I don't think that is gonna fly.

 

Aside from:

• S-AYC
• Metal-construction BOV
• Headlamps/taillamps with black housings
• Automagic climate control
• Black upholstered seats

What more would you be looking for? I'm assuming with those features, and a few other very minor things, the MR would definitely be ticking in around $39,999.

 

maybe fq-300 version for 39,999

Its worth it

 

My reply to that would be, then why can Subaru offer a better than JDM market car without "paying" for it?

 

i dont kno if the engine is the same..

 

Easy. Subaru makes one platform. From the Forester to the Legacy, they are all more or less the same car mechanically. Development on the STi is directly applicable to the other products, thus strengthening the business case for parts like the 2.5L turbo engine (used in the Forester, Legacy, and Outback models) and the DCCD (which is a development of the variable torque distribution on certain outbacks). The STi has A LOT more in common with the other subarus than the evo does with the other mitsubishis.

In other words, it's the Forester, Legacy, and Outback models that subsidize much of the STi development costs. Mitsubishi has to develop all these technologies for a single car that has around 10,000 sales annually. To put this in perspective, Ford sells that many F-150's in 3 days. AYC and ACD, while competition bred, has very little applicability to a product line that is not very performance oriented these days. Contrast that with subaru which has awd and abs across every one of their US models.

Mitsubishi isn't selling the evo to make money, it keeps the evo around to remind customers who are shopping for lancers and galants that Mitsubishi remains a world class company in terms of engineering capability. The other side of that coin is, of course, that they have to back that assertion with quality products that are not Evolutions. In that sense, the evo enthusiasts (i.e. us) are not going to save the company, and putting in a 40K hot sedan is not going to get accord buyers into the Mitsubishi showroom.

-n.

 

Good Post

 

HUH.....???? USDM EVO is already equivalent to the FQ-300. EVO USDM is rated at 276 which is underated and is actually pushing a little over 300hp for 05

 

Agree also. Many of the complaints seem to come form people that have little regard for the economics of Evolution production.

 

True, Mitsubishi could not rely on Evo to save the company, but at least they are able to pump up the sales, and it always helps. Look at Nissan 350Z and Mazda RX-8, they are not more practical or far more comfortable than a 4 door Evolution, and they are all priced very closely, but their sales are over two thousands units monthly, rather than 4-5 hundreds Evos. Many Evo owners don't want more Evos to be made because they want to be special. I want to say it one more time, Lancer Evolution is the only Mitsubishi vehicle that is worth the money.

 

Not always true. You forget that in order to develop something, you are taking away resources that could be used for something else. Why spend $ to increase evo sales by a couple hundred a month if that same effort might move a thousand more galants? The Evo is so good right now that improving it would be EXPENSIVE considering the benefit you'd get from spending that cash. However, the other products could gain a LOT from any development cash they can get. The allocation of product development resources are a zero-sum game. In other words, any effort you spend is taking away from something else. As you have said yourself, the Evo is the only worthwhile product, and taking time to further develop other Evo models after the significant 2005 updates would be an utter waste of time. They need to invest that money into the rest of their product line if they want to succeed.

Also, I would say that the RX-8 and 350Z are better positioned in the US market because they fit better into what a typical buyer with $30K to spend on a sports car is looking for. Both are more livable in terms of ride and creature comforts (navigation, leather, climate control are available on both), and both are available with an automatic transmission. I haven't looked at RX-8 figures, but the majority of 350Z's sold in the US are automatics. Sad as it is, our car culture is not one that values the manual transmission. Also, the design of the cars also fits the american expectations of a 'sports car'. They're both sleek hatchbacks with coupe styling (despite the suicide doors on the rx-8).

Also, remember that the 350Z is based on the FM platform. Nissan does platform engineering as well as anyone, that platform forms the basis of the G35, the 350Z, the Infiniti FX, and the new 2005 Infiniti M cars as well as a host of JDM products that are not sold here (i.e. Stagea). Developing the 350Z was not that expensive, and I consider it to be more of a GT car than a true sports car. GT cars sell very well because they look fast and drive well but are also easy to live with on a daily basis.

In that sense, bringing the MR was a mistake if it meant we couldn't bring the GTA. An automatic Evo with the more compliant bilsteins, as much as it breaks my heart to say it, would fill a performance sedan niche that pits the Evo against a broader market, like the 330xi, the S4 (which is significantly more expensive), and would be a great alternative to many of the high performance midsize sedans out there. It also fills a niche for a manual-phobic US market that is better than the WRX sedan which is crippled by the four speeds of the automatic transmission in that car. By all accounts, the five speed auto of the Evolution GTA is as good as they come, with a paddle shift feature and the livability of a conventional automatic.

In the end, the question you should ask yourself is this. If you wanted a 350Z and went to the dealer to look for one, but decided not to get it for practicality reasons, do you have other choices in the same showroom? Yes. The Altima, Maxima, Quest, and Murano all have the same engine as the Z and very similar interior and exterior styling. That's called brand cohesion, and it's very important with halo products. Same is true for the RX-8. Mazda has done a fantastic job making 'zoom-zoom' more than a slogan. Even the MPV is fun to drive. And, a $16,000 Mazda 3 is much, much better than any Ralliart or OZ out there, for less money. The investment in that vehicle is clear- the combination of Ford suspension, Mazda drivetrain, and Volvo safety is nearly unbeatable in the segment.

For Mitsubishi, ask yourself what your options are if you love the Evo but can't make it work? The Ralliart? Maybe if you're a diehard Mitsu fan, but that car is in a segment full of worthy (and better) alternatives. Really, there isn't much. I think that the 2006 Eclipse is far, far more critical to the future success of the company because it's a more affordable, sleeker, and more livable sporty car than the Evo. I should probably also say that I work for a car company, and as such, I have a little more insight into automotive product development than the average person .

 

other than the sayc and few fancy stuff (lights,seats etc.) the USDM MR is the same thing as the JDM MR so why would you call it a watered down version????