Mitsubishi struggles to stay relevant
Mitsubishi has been selling cars in the United States longer than some of its competing Japanese brands and certainly longer than Hyundai and Kia, a pair of Korean automakers. In the 1970s, Mitsubishi began selling its cars through the Chrysler Corporation, and rebadged Plymouth and Dodge models rounded out the Detroit automaker’s product line. Years later, Mitsubishi became independent, established its own dealer network and peaked in demand for its attractive compact models.
usa struggles
These days, Mitsubishi is struggling to find its footing in North America, with an underutilized assembly plant supplying some product, but demand far from what it should be. Other automakers have taken notice and have long passed Mitsubishi by, leaving it to the Japanese automaker to examine whether it should be a force in the US market.
Mitsubishi has no plans to follow Isuzu and leave the US, but it is planning to make some big changes in a bid to recapture past glory and liven up its model lineup. Expect the following changes to help the automaker increase its presence and relevance in the highly competitive US market:
plant changes – Mitsubishi’s only US assembly plant is in Normal, Illinois, and it’s nowhere near its construction capacity. The Eclipse is built there, a special model that still has some appeal. However, the aged Galant and dated Endeavor are also built in Illinois. All three lines will soon be phased out of Illinois and replaced by more popular models, the Outlander crossover and Lancer sedan, for 2013.
electric vehicle – The name i-MiEV does not ring a bell, but it represents the “Mitsubishi in-wheel electric vehicle” that is planned to be launched globally. This model is already sold to government fleets in Japan, beating the Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt in the market. The US version of this compact car is expected to be larger and go on sale sometime in 2011. It will be built in Japan and exported to the states.
New models – Mitsubishi is silent on the new models it has planned, but the most important will be the replacement of the current Galant midsize sedan. That model is woefully out of date, on sale in the US market starting in 2003 with minor updates since then. If Mitsubishi wants to do things right, a competitive midsize sedan is a must. Even little Suzuki solved that problem, selling its Kizashi sedan in the most competitive vehicle segment.
In 2010, Mitsubishi’s sales rose 3 percent in a market where car sales rose 11 percent to just over 55,000 units. That number is a far cry from the 354,111 vehicles it sold in 2002, underscoring that Mitsubishi has a lot of work to do to once again have a viable presence in the competitive US market.