5 ltr. beater

...was reading an article in yahoo news just now about 6 brands that may not make it through 2013. mitsubishi of north america was on that list and it basically said that out of 22 car makers, Mitsubishi comes in around 20th,21st place amongst car sales with a very disappointing 0.4% market share (Ford for example has about 16% of the market)
my question would be, if Mitsubishi goes away, would it just be here in north america? how and where would we get parts to fix our cars? would we have to order everything from japan?

i thought Mitsubishi was in better shape than it was portrayed? or maybe I'm mistaken ...can someone shed some light in this subject? im a little worried...dont want my evo to wind up like daewoo's where they dont even make parts for those cars anymore.

sblvro

iTrader: (2)

if they don't produce another evo or a better full size SUV, then yes.

Kendogg

I believe Mitsu will pull out the North American market within the next few years. I have no sympathy, they have themselves to blame.

My understanding is they will produce parts for the current models for atleast the next 10 years. After that you are on your own. I do not know if this is 100% accurate, its just what I have been told.

5 ltr. beater

so would they just pull out of north america only or be finished as a company all-together? is mitsubishi doing bad in other countries as well?

PZ.eu

AFAIK Mitsubishi will score 1.#% total car sale increase in 2012 compairing to 2011. I guess the answer is NO.

evoone

iTrader: (8)

...gone from N.A. like Isuzu.

Defcon5Es

iTrader: (5)

Mitsubishi Motors North America Nov. Sales Down 4.3% - Quick Facts
12/3/2012 1:59 PM ET

Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., (MMTOF.PK) reported that its total sales for the month of November were 3,574 units, down 4.3 percent compared to November 2011. That total however was impacted by models that ended their production in 2011. Total sales of models currently in production were up more than 16 percent for the month compared to last November.

The Outlander Sport sales for the month were up 34.2 percent compared to November 2011.

Outlander Sport sales were 1,520 for the month, the fourth highest monthly total this year for sales of the fuel-efficient CUV, now manufactured in Normal, Illinois.

Lancer sales were up 16.3 percent for the month, and Lancer Evolution sales improved 9.1 percent.

Mitsubishi is fine in North America. They just need to bring back the old line-up for example the Eclipse and mirage etc.

ugakirk

iTrader: (14)

They will stay around a little while.

The Outlander Sport (RVR) has been doing well, the Lancer does ok usually, and the Evo is well, the Evo. It has it's small market, us, that does well..

I think the i-Miev will be a flop. I like the technology, but it is freaking ugly. Why can't Mitsu make a normal looking electric car. It doesn't have to be big, or anything, but just don't make it look like a moon-buggy. I also think the new Outlander will be disappointing as well. Not because of the nicer interior, cooler comfort creatures, better gas mileage, but because it just looks a little weird. Maybe my opinion will change when it hits production and we see it in person.

They need another line to do well though. Maybe they will redo the Galant or something to make it look and feel more sophisticated. Kind of like what Hyundai has done with the Genesis. Talk about a manufacturer who has changed their image over the last 5 years..

silverevo05

iTrader: (7)

They need to shut down dealerships...except in major cities

Become a niche car sales company ala tesla, fisker, lotus, putting emphasis on the evo, a high performance suv and a high performance hybrid basically becoming what the gtr is to ferraris etc. a bang for the buck giant money killer

then as sales and positive name recognition (this is big) increase, put out a lower performance compact out there with the name eclipse (bringing back an old name plate)

the product must be overbuilt ala 2jzgte supra, nsx, etc so they can last long enough to produce reliability recognition

Overbuilt products will decrease profit but planning for the future is what they need to do.

All start up companies (which mitsu has to become) go into the negative till quality reliabilty and name recognition become a good foundation. Then as products become better price increases and profit with it.

They cant compete against the camry or accord for midsize sales or the corrolla civic in compact sales

plus hyundai and kia are knocking mitsu down with great prices and quality

I dont know why they are trying EV (miev) since toyota honda nissan and even tesla will wrap that department up..

Reduce your overhead by cutting some production factories which build cars that stay on the lot far too long..

process should take roughly 10 years

OR

just merge with honda in japan and become their high performance division (much less likely)

OR

close shop and call it a day. Now we all own saturns, plymouths, and pontiacs and people will say "remember when they use to build those here"

vweater1369

So basically re-introduce the 1st and 2nd gen eclipse/talon? I like that idea! lol

GPTourer

Defcons post is the most telling. If the gross numbers don't mean anything to you just look at it this way. The cars that they are currently producing are up considerably. Those sales are generally to retail customers which is good. They just stopped making three models that were mainly to fleet (i.e. Rental companies which is low profit and bad) so overall sales are down just a bit. They are going to bring the new Mirage here next year. It is selling so well in other parts of the world that the plant can not meet demand and is currently being modified to increase production. About the only thing that has been a flop is the i which was never going to be a volume seller anyway. I do not think Mitsubishi is going anywhere. Of course I've been saying that for the past ten years or so whenever this topic pops up.

5 ltr. beater

well it sounds like mitsubishi is doing somewhat ok. i feel a bit better now. id just hate to be an owner of car by a car company that doesnt exist anymore. id have to put my evo in the garage and lock it up as a collector car.

PZ.eu

To be honest I am a bit saddened that we haven't got US(03-11) produced Galant into EU(Inside info told me that some idiot here got on idea that Galant/Pajero Sport are unattractive here and forbid their market promotions) and on the other side that it never got changes it deserved, like some 21st century powerplant(4b1#, 4n1#, 6b3#) and thats why this model was considered a relic in 2007-8 (and by some miracle it was kept being produced for 4 more years), eventually sealing its fate.

I don't like the fact that Mirage comes in EU and even in US as 3cyl, especially that for instance homemade Serbian Fiat 500L goes into US as 1.4 4cyl turbo with 162hp while here it is being sold as 90hp diesel econobox, Mirage could be a blast with a decent 4 cyl engine(think 1.5 displacement) but instead its going to be next bogger and car that gets all the hate, you'd open reviews and read that so called reviewers claim it to be noisy, 3cyl, unacceptable for highway, shortly said waste of money and Mitsubishi will surely tryhard at having as a halocar of that year... Kinda like digging a gravehole even deeper. And to use to think that these people won rallies in not so distant past and that car owners would be happy to see a promo of their brand on every F1 race, kinda sad.

Spazpilot

iTrader: (4)

It's been the end of Mitsubishi since 1989 when I purchased my first Eclipse.

gsrboi80

iTrader: (38)

This.