Autoblog: New Mitsubishi USA chairman has batshit insane first task: revitalizing the brand

rickhamilton620

rickhamilton620

has a fetish for terrible cars
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Autoblog said:
Have a look at Mitsubishi North America's vehicle page and you'll find seven cars in four model lines: i-MiEVelectric hatch, Lancer sedan, Lancer Evolution and Sportback, Outlander and Outlander Sport, and Galantsedan. The Galant has 3.9 tires in the automotive grave, and the only hope for mainstream excitement, the Eclipse coupe and Spyder, had hemlock poured down their crankcases last year. Increasing the quotient of bleak, the Lancer isn't due for a refresh until 2014, the coming Outlander PHEV will sell in miniscule numbers when it does arrive, a little sports car has been nixed and the only other Mitsu being considered for our landmassis the Colt, which, for its stellar fuel economy numbers, looks like a car designed by Pikachu. There's also that matter of declining NA market share in a rising overall market, Mitsubishi's piece of the total pie currently hovering around the 0.4-percent mark according to Automotive News.

The company has decided to do more about it, reassigning Executive Vice President and Head Officer of the Headquarters Product Projects & Strategy Group Gayu Uesugi to be the new chairman of Mitsubishi Motors North America. It will be the first time in five years that someone has filled the chairman position at MMNA.

The hope is that with Uesugi's 35 years with the company, his experience in the company's global product plan and his success in emerging market strategy, he's the man to "[develop] a product plan and growth strategy for the US market" that will put things right. Or at least better. He will work with Yoichi Yokozawa, who has been CEO of MMNA since last year. There are more details on the move in the press release below.
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http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/02/mitsubishis-first-us-chairman-since-2007-charged-with-revitaliz/

Hopefully his seniority will give him the klout he needs to make change. The Lancer needs a redesign far sooner than 2014, Galant should definitely get a successor (and Endeavouresque replacement) as disappearing from the lucrative mid-size sedan/CUV segment is a bad idea for any brand trying to not be a niche anymore. The i should be sold in both gas and electric versions: It would provide a truly unique subcompact car to get people to notice Mitsubishi again.
 
This is relevant to my interests
 
Mitsubishi Motors still exists? :p
 
rickhamilton620 said:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/02/mitsubishis-first-us-chairman-since-2007-charged-with-revitaliz/

Hopefully his seniority will give him the klout he needs to make change. The Lancer needs a redesign far sooner than 2014, Galant should definitely get a successor (and Endeavouresque replacement) as disappearing from the lucrative mid-size sedan/CUV segment is a bad idea for any brand trying to not be a niche anymore. The i should be sold in both gas and electric versions: It would provide a truly unique subcompact car to get people to notice Mitsubishi again.
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It's worse than that. They literally have nothing in their US line up at current that's competitive, contemporary or even something someone would buy unless their credit was so bad they couldn't get anything else or was on ridiculously cheap discount. They need to rethink, redesign, and rebuild everything.
 
Spectre said:
It's worse than that. They literally have nothing in their US line up at current that's competitive, contemporary or even something someone would buy unless their credit was so bad they couldn't get anything else or was on ridiculously cheap discount. They need to rethink, redesign, and rebuild everything.
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Eh I wouldn't go that far. The Outlander Sport sells fairly well and the standard Outlander is no longer a penalty box inside and drives well. Not to mention the Evo which well...needs no reasons why it's a good car. But they need more product beyond those two small bright spots in their lineup. The, admittedly being discontinued, Galant (and it's Endeavour sibling) still has a navigation system that could easily be mistaken as being in something from 1997:


The kicker? The fucking eyesore is standard on anything but the base trim car. I understand why (to get rid of slow selling navi units...rental fleets don't usually buy navi equipped cars :p)
but who wants to see that afterthought of a infotainment system every morning. At least it comes with a backup camera.
 
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rickhamilton620 said:
Eh I wouldn't go that far. The Outlander Sport sells fairly well and the standard Outlander is no longer a penalty box inside and drives well. Not to mention the Evo which well...needs no reasons why it's a good car. But they need more product beyond those two small bright spots in their lineup. The, admittedly being discontinued, Galant (and it's Endeavour sibling) still has a navigation system that could easily be mistaken as being in something from 1997:


The kicker? The fucking eyesore is standard on anything but the base trim car. I understand why (to get rid of slow selling navi units...rental fleets don't usually buy navi equipped cars :p)
but who wants to see that afterthought of a infotainment system every morning. At least it comes with a backup camera.
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Cadillac sold more of the SRX last month that Mitsubishi did vehicles period. Same story with the Dodge Journey, Hyundai Santa Fe, Chevy Traverse and even the Subaru Forester.
2012 Year-To-Date Sales through September:
RAV4 - 134,167
CR-V - 213,381
Ford Escape - 200,075
GMC Terrain - 70,826
Jeep Compass - 31,903
Nissan Juke - 28,096
Nissan Rogue - 109,763
Outlander Sport - 13,126

How can you claim that the Outlander Sport is selling well with a straight face??? What's even more shocking is that the Outlander Sport is their top selling model.

Edmunds had this to say about the Outlander not-so-Sport:
The Mitsubishi Outlander has been with us for the better part of a decade, and for the most part, never really managed to challenge the more established SUVs in its class. When Mitsubishi announced the Outlander Sport model -- a smaller version with the promise of more athletic performance -- it seemed like a concept that could possibly gain a foothold. Sadly, that was not the case. The "Sport" badge was quickly dismissed as disingenuous, as this smaller Outlander suffered from a weak engine and lazy handling. Styling was at least intriguing, as it picked up cues from the sporty Lancer Evolution, but the standard Outlander also looks similar and foregoes much of what plagues the Outlander Sport.

As it stands, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is sporty only in name and appearance. Furthermore, it comes up short in cargo capacity when compared to competitors. For these reasons, we struggle to recommend it over nearly any other compact SUV, let alone the top-ranked Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4. Our suggestion is to check out everything else first.
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Which appears to be what everyone else did.

The Lancer and Evo are dated and have fallen behind the competition rather severely. They've sold only 12,768 of both through September this year - basically nobody wants them. (For comparison, the Impreza sold 63,651 units and the WRX version by itself came to a majority of the total Lancer/Evo number: 9529.)

My guess - Pennsylvanians are buying them all. Which appears to be a good indication of 1) that the vehicles are awful and 2) nobody else wants them.
 
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rickhamilton620 said:
Eh I wouldn't go that far. The Outlander Sport sells fairly well and the standard Outlander is no longer a penalty box inside and drives well. Not to mention the Evo which well...needs no reasons why it's a good car. But they need more product beyond those two small bright spots in their lineup. The, admittedly being discontinued, Galant (and it's Endeavour sibling) still has a navigation system that could easily be mistaken as being in something from 1997:


The kicker? The fucking eyesore is standard on anything but the base trim car. I understand why (to get rid of slow selling navi units...rental fleets don't usually buy navi equipped cars :p)
but who wants to see that afterthought of a infotainment system every morning. At least it comes with a backup camera.
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LOL i think its hilarious that the salesman is trying to sell the benefits of that system in the video and he actually sounds enthusiastic about it
 
I didn't know screens came in a resolution that low.
 
Drop everything but the Evo, still won't save them but at least they could go out in style!
 
Wait until Coco spots this thread......
 
A sad sight is (soon to be was) the site of the local Suzuki dealership... :( I don't even know where Mitsubishi is
 
The local Mitsu dealership has been mostly Ford dealership (same owner) over-flow.
 
Autoblog said:
By March, Mitsubishi expects to have sold just 55,000 cars in the US this fiscal year. That's a tiny sum - by comparison, Honda has sold over 276,000 Civic models thus far this year - and that's just one vehicle, not an entire brand. Mitsubishi president Osamu Masuko recognizes this is not a tenable position, and he's hoping the company will shift 80,000 units next fiscal year. Warding off speculation, Masuko has repeatedly stated that his company will not retreat from the US market like competitor Suzuki.

We reported on one part of Masuko's plan, the updated Outlander, and now he has confirmed that the small Mirage will be sold in the US beginning next September. The cut-price hatchback is selling well enough that Mitsu's Thailand plant is at its full capacity of 150,000 cars. "And even at that level it's not keeping up with orders," Masuko tells Automotive News....
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http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/12/mitsubishi-boss-confirms-new-mirage-for-us-starting-in-september/

Well, it's a start, I guess, although the Mirage looks as uninspiring/nondescript as the "Colt" badged products sold by Chrysler:



"Who makes this?" "Who the fuck knows?!?!" Even the steering wheel on those was unmarked, only a dimple where a logo would go. Talk about generic car.

The iMiEV isn't selling well...whodathunk? /sarcasm.
 
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I think I hear the grim reaper, and he's clearing his throat...
 
Red_Bull said:
Bring back Ralliart.
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The single thing that can save them. To go all out to reinstate Mitsu as batshit crazy 4WD rallycars for the road - maker. All else is pointless.
 
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SchumacherM said:
The single thing that can save them. To go all out to reinstate Mitsu as batshit crazy 4WD rallycars for the road - maker. All else is pointless.
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That won't get then nearly enough volume they need to survive here. In the grand scheme of things, only a small number of buyers want a 4wd rallycar. Yes they need to keep pushing the Evo forward, no doubt, but they can't forget about bread and butter segments that can generate the cashflow to work on such things. The midsize crossover, midsize car, and compact car segments are those here.
 
p0w3r said:
LOL i think its hilarious that the salesman is trying to sell the benefits of that system in the video and he actually sounds enthusiastic about it
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Unfortunately, his grasp of the English language is so poor, I don't care if that nav system is the best thing since sliced bread, I turned the video off and I wouldn't buy from that dealer.
 
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