View Full Version : Mitsubishi to pull out of the US. RIP EVO
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 08:55 AM
Mitsubishi to bail on U.S.?
Posted Jun 1st 2006 11:57PM by Erin Mays
Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi has thrown down the gauntlet. If dealers can't sell its new products like the Outlander and Lancer, the company may pull out of the United States completely. Mitsubishi's product boss, Shinichi Kurihara said as much at a press event, indicating that the company's recovery rides on the success of the vehicles. The company is down 16.5 percent to 36,536 units so far this year, and its Normal, Ill. plant employs just one shift. Predictably, dealers have responded by urging Mitsubishi brass to open up their wallets and spend more money on advertising here in the States.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi's May sales figures just arrived and the company posted a 3.9-percent rise in sales over May of 2005, which follows an even stronger 17.5-percent improvement last month over April of 2005.
[Source: Automotive News via AutoWeek]
(Thanks to Emulous1974 for the tip)
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This has been discussed all over the Evo forums for a while. Mitsubishi sales is increasing with the new Eclipse and lots of positive reviews of the Evolution. It brings people into the showrooms and people look at the other cars while there as most normal people are not hardcore enough for an Evo. Most of their products are crappy which casts a bad name and their lack of advertising hurts.
They seriously need to overhaul their other line ups and get some better car designers. The Evo and Lancer is an updated old design carry over which is why it doesn't look like their other cars. That's a good thing as their new car designs really suck.
SilviaNinja240
06-02-2006, 11:10 AM
Interestingly enough, I was talking about this with my friend the other day. Its too bad really :/
This would suck as Evo's are high maintenence, and not having any dealer support would cripple a lot of them. :(
Taniguchi_Is_#1
06-02-2006, 11:27 AM
like ZK said, their current line up sucks. the only reason that they are still here in the US is because Evos sell like crazy and the Eclipse seems to be doing ok, too. but to have your whole US operations depend on 2 cars? they really need to hire new designers and engineers.
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 11:52 AM
It's funny people's perception of Mitsu's dependability.
They rank higher in vehicle dependability then MB, Saab, Jeep, Audi, Volkswagon, Land Rover, MINI. And one notch below Nissan.
Oh well it's all about public persecption.
What NEEDS to happen is they need to get someone in there to restructure the whole company. Some heartless business genius who isn't afraid to fire people and ge the right guys (and gals) in there to do the job. The company is in shambles (though i just realized the other day that it isn't making as much press as it was), and something big needs to go down if they are going to see there way out of it. If they think that by pulling out of the states is going to be a wise decision there nuts. They still sell more Eclipse's then any other model they have. Take away 15% of your total sales, and it's gonna hurt, period. And do you think there going to sell and Eclipse in Japan again. Don't bet on it. Who would buy it over there anyway? Nobody. It's made for an american market.
They need to start all over. All over with every model and LET America know it's happening. Stop trying to pretend everything is OK. Advertise, "A New Mitsubishi". With their limited product line in America they can have new product out by 2009.
Yea, I know it's not as easy as it sounds. But hey, you gotta start somewere.
axiomatik
06-02-2006, 11:53 AM
that would suck if they pulled out (if only for the EVO). they might sell a few more cars if they didn't have the ugliest line-up in the market.
Galant: :down:
Outlander: :down:
Endeavor: :down:
Eclipse: meh:-/
Lancer: meh :-/
EVO: not exactly pretty, but purposeful :hitit:
they need to fire that talentless ass-clown they hired to lead their design department. all their cars have that nasty-looking eagle beak thing going on, and their designs just look cheap.
Or Bring back Mike Desmond. Although I think he's having too much fun heading up West Coast Choppers to go back as the head of Mitsubishi USA's design studios.
n2motorsports
06-02-2006, 12:08 PM
What NEEDS to happen is they need to get someone in there to restructure the whole company.
couldn't agree with you more, Nissan did it.
this is truly sad, i was really hoping to see the evo wagon make it's way over here.
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 12:15 PM
couldn't agree with you more, Nissan did it.
.
Bingo, bango! Nissan was in as bad of shape if not worse then what Mitsu is in and look at them now. Last year they had the highest market share increase in America.
Come on Mitsu. Noone likes a quiter!
couldn't agree with you more, Nissan did it.
this is truly sad, i was really hoping to see the evo wagon make it's way over here.
+1
I need something I can carry around parts and tires, but I hate boring cars.
It's funny people's perception of Mitsu's dependability.
They rank higher in vehicle dependability then MB, Saab, Jeep, Audi, Volkswagon, Land Rover, MINI. And one notch below Nissan.
Oh well it's all about public persecption.
Very true... they had some bad apples with their cars in the past. The dependability is not really the question here. It's just they make ugly cars that people don't want at all. The new Eclipse sells well because it's a good value for the $$. The interior is really terrible and the exterior is nothing really special.
Having a high performance car people rave about isn't going to change anything if the other cars are so bland and undesirable. The Evo is not their bread and butter and can't pull their sales back in line. That said, there will always be parts and service available for the Evo even if Mitsubishi disappears. There are already tons of shops and vendors that cater to them.
And 2006 is the last year for the Evo 9... there will be no Evos for 2007 until the Evo X in 2008. So there goes a chunk of Mitsubishi's sales.
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 12:52 PM
And 2006 is the last year for the Evo 9... there will be no Evos for 2007 until the Evo X in 2008. So there goes a chunk of Mitsubishi's sales.
Wow, I was unaware of the gap in production. I have to say that is a very piss poor move. Just a bad example of awful planning and upper management. Man Mitsu is really missing the boat here.
fromxtor
06-02-2006, 12:56 PM
hell mazda was starting to go in the can too until the RX-8 came out, followed by the mazdaspeed miata. If they want to sell more EVOs they might want to lower the freaking price.
Wow, I was unaware of the gap in production. I have to say that is a very piss poor move. Just a bad example of awful planning and upper management. Man Mitsu is really missing the boat here.
It's because of new car regulations being introduced in 2007. Same goes for the Montero and cars from other manufacturers. They don't have the new Evo ready yet so there's a gap.
hell mazda was starting to go in the can too until the RX-8 came out, followed by the mazdaspeed miata. If they want to sell more EVOs they might want to lower the freaking price.
They are already selling them really cheap considering what you get in it. Elsewhere outside of Japan like Europe and other parts of Asia, they cost 2x the price we pay. They don't really make much on top of the cars and are here more as an image booster.
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 01:14 PM
I think Mitsu's problem with there line-up mostly is that they don't have a theme. Mazda is like the poor man's BMW (cause of the suspension), Nissan centers around the driver, etc. What is Mitsu? The have a dope ass 4 door AWD turbo car that caters to enthusiasts, a overweight overpowered FWD coupe catering to secretary's, a sedan that doesn't have a styling que to remember, and then a bunch of small SUV's that don't have the spirit of any of there predessors, and a pick up truck were sales couldn't pick up and it got the axe.
Now what does all that have in common? Nothing. The vehicles don't surround a theme, or a vision. There's no common thread.
Jeez, pick a word and center it around that, ie Shift.
S14DB
06-02-2006, 01:19 PM
This would suck as Evo's are high maintenance, and not having any dealer support would cripple a lot of them. :(
and most Mitsu dealers suck at maintenance. Local dealer has a deal with a local rice shop to work on the Evo's.
TurDz
06-02-2006, 01:20 PM
Does anyone recall the CATASTROPHE that happened in Japan? Basically, the executives of the company were discovered to cover up a lot of critical safety issues on cars, which led to many deaths. No recalls were implemented, and this put Japanese lives in grave danger. It's something along those lines that a Japanese native told me. I'm curious to reserach more on this and I'm very surprised it hasn't been publicized in the US at all.
So basically, Japan lost trust in Mitsubishi...and they have to earn it all back.
Knowing that...I can see why the whole company is in turmoil in general.
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 01:37 PM
Does anyone recall the CATASTROPHE that happened in Japan? Basically, the executives of the company were discovered to cover up a lot of critical safety issues on cars, which led to many deaths. No recalls were implemented, and this put Japanese lives in grave danger. It's something along those lines that a Japanese native told me. I'm curious to reserach more on this and I'm very surprised it hasn't been publicized in the US at all.
So basically, Japan lost trust in Mitsubishi...and they have to earn it all back.
Knowing that...I can see why the whole company is in turmoil in general.
Yea like I said. They publisized this all last year, but I haven't heard a damn thing about the shape of Mitsu in months. This is honetly the first thing I've read (regarding the company itself) about them in months.
It seems strange to me.
Its gonna take restructuring and great marketing. Nissan did it with Carlos Goshn and their SHIFT campaign. Mazda did it with a revamped lineup and the Zoom-Zoom marketing campaign. Whats Mitsubshi's slogan?
Hell I can't even picture any of the cars from their current lineup in my mind besides the Evo and ugly new eclipse.
Ghettokracker71
06-02-2006, 02:53 PM
It's funny people's perception of Mitsu's dependability.
They rank higher in vehicle dependability then MB, Saab, Jeep, Audi, Volkswagon, Land Rover, MINI. And one notch below Nissan.
Oh well it's all about public persecption.
What NEEDS to happen is they need to get someone in there to restructure the whole company. Some heartless business genius who isn't afraid to fire people and ge the right guys (and gals) in there to do the job. The company is in shambles (though i just realized the other day that it isn't making as much press as it was), and something big needs to go down if they are going to see there way out of it. If they think that by pulling out of the states is going to be a wise decision there nuts. They still sell more Eclipse's then any other model they have. Take away 15% of your total sales, and it's gonna hurt, period. And do you think there going to sell and Eclipse in Japan again. Don't bet on it. Who would buy it over there anyway? Nobody. It's made for an american market.
They need to start all over. All over with every model and LET America know it's happening. Stop trying to pretend everything is OK. Advertise, "A New Mitsubishi". With their limited product line in America they can have new product out by 2009.
Yea, I know it's not as easy as it sounds. But hey, you gotta start somewere.
Exactly...haha. Honestly my perception of their dependibility is really low...everbody I have EVER known that has had one,wich is only like 8 cars total mind you,has had trouble with them. I worked with a girl with an extremely low mileage babied Eclipse GTS,exact year unknown but it was one of the last years before the new body style is out? She had 25k on it when I met her,and that thing was always in the shop,she was a hairstylist ,I rode with her multible times and she babied the shit out of it...she liked it b/c it was "sexy". I went to school with a girl with one of their brand new larger SUVS? endeavor maybe? I rode in it a couple of times... It was really torquey and nice on the inside,rode great...2006 model but she always had to borrow her husbands car,and get rides to class b/c the transmission kept fucking up on her....It had like 1,4xx miles when I rode in it last...and the auto tranny still shifted rough into 3rd
I could keep going,but this post is long enough.
If their quality has improved over the last few years,I definitely haven't noticed. But as I stated...I have little expeerinece with them.
I dont really like the new eclipse...it looks nice but I've read in alot of places about how heavy it is...I miss the old school eclipses, AWD turbo power baby (even if it was heavy due to AWD,it was still pretty quick)
exitspeed
06-02-2006, 03:06 PM
^
Yea their dependability has gotten better. The 1st and 2nd gen Eclipse are terrible in that department. I owned a 2000 (3rd Gen) Eclipse GT and that was a monster. I modded it, beat it to hell and it never gave me one ounce of trouble. I was very suprised, and very happy with the cars dependability.
koukidough
06-02-2006, 04:13 PM
What goes around comes around... Have you heard way back when they gave 3rd world countries money to dump their toxic waste. They be paying villager folks to dump some of their crap on their farm land. That company dont care about health or environmental issues at all.
hmmm. No more new evos+FF3= used evo price explosion
SimpleS14
06-02-2006, 06:39 PM
hmmm. No more new evos+FF3= used evo price explosion
Very true...I can really see that happening.
Are you guys forgetting that both Nissan and Mazda had their revive or turnaround from a large stake ownership from another company? Nissan has Renault, while Mazda has Ford. Supposely DC has stake in Mistu...but in the recent years they've been pulling out support of any kind.
I'm not really surprised to hear such rumors (or news) that they are pulling out of the U.S. They let their products stagnate and fail to compete. Also their marketing sucks, just below Nissan.
Well, being popular has its problems. According to the new "Most Stolen" car lists the Evo is now #2 most stolen car in the US after the Escalade...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13179668/
exitspeed
06-07-2006, 10:46 AM
The "Lade is #1 forth year and counting. :Owned:
You wouldn't catch me dead in one of those anyway.
S14DB
06-07-2006, 04:22 PM
Well, being popular has its problems. According to the new "Most Stolen" car lists the Evo is now #2 most stolen car in the US after the Escalade...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13179668/
With the average claim being $10K they are stealing parts for their Lancer not the whole car.
The Lancer Evolution, a high-performance version with more than twice the horsepower of a standard Lancer sedan, was likely targeted because thieves coveted its rear spoilers and special tires and wheels, Hazelbaker said.
Aggghh!!! Stupid ricer thieves!
HyperTek
06-07-2006, 08:00 PM
dam i like the Lancer EVO too. i actually want one.
Eclipse is pretty good lookin imo.
Thier other cars are butt ugly.. what where they thinking?
They should make a sub-divison of cars with a different brand name like Toyota and Scion, but the cars are still Mitsubishi. Maybe that would help.
RiversideS13
06-07-2006, 10:37 PM
galant is the uglist japanese car i ever seen.
maybe they just need a new CEO?
Ricks15
06-07-2006, 10:48 PM
Mitsubishi will get my hard earned support by the end of the year:2f2f: For those of you who have not driven a Evo all i got to say is dayyyymmmnnn my friend let me drive his 9 and that car is stupid fast:naughty:
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