Mitsubishi Not Dead Yet: Nissan Takes Control
- Thread starter YSSMAN
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- 23,800
- Philippines
Turbocharged all-wheel drive repmobiles is no longer where the market is at.
Mitsubishi could make money off of an Outlander Sport (nee ASX) Evolution... if the ASX were still a competitive product.
As it is, they have no new product... the last Galant, which was already uncompetitive, is dead, dead, dead. The Outlander is several years past its sell-by date.
The platform underneath the Lancer/ASX was only marginally competitive at birth, is about ripe for replacement, and has no successor in sight.
The Mirage is, in my eyes, a great engineering triumph. Unfortunately, it's not a great car. Mitsubishi achieved a design goal of lightness that even Mazda could only dream of, but sacrificed perhaps a bit too much refinement to get there. It's already well-loved amongst cheapskates and afficionados of old Metros and G1 Insights (yes, the two groups overlap, but are not identical), but not by anybody else.
Mitsubishi needs a reboot. Drop everything. Go the world car route starting with the Mirage and possible sub-Mirage products... then build up from there. Would take another two decades to filter back to America, but that's a lost cause at this point.
Mitsubishi could make money off of an Outlander Sport (nee ASX) Evolution... if the ASX were still a competitive product.
As it is, they have no new product... the last Galant, which was already uncompetitive, is dead, dead, dead. The Outlander is several years past its sell-by date.
The platform underneath the Lancer/ASX was only marginally competitive at birth, is about ripe for replacement, and has no successor in sight.
The Mirage is, in my eyes, a great engineering triumph. Unfortunately, it's not a great car. Mitsubishi achieved a design goal of lightness that even Mazda could only dream of, but sacrificed perhaps a bit too much refinement to get there. It's already well-loved amongst cheapskates and afficionados of old Metros and G1 Insights (yes, the two groups overlap, but are not identical), but not by anybody else.
Mitsubishi needs a reboot. Drop everything. Go the world car route starting with the Mirage and possible sub-Mirage products... then build up from there. Would take another two decades to filter back to America, but that's a lost cause at this point.
- 27,162
- United Kingdom
And succeeding. Both the Outlander and Mirage are doing quite well in the UK market right now - the company's sales have been going up for quite some time now, spurred by those two models, the Outlander PHEV is by quite a way the highest-selling plug-in car in the country, and ASXs are moving out of showrooms nicely too.
While this certainly isn't a trend reflected worldwide for Mitsubishi, they're far from producing products that people don't want to buy. Much as petrolheads like to moan (and moan, and moan) about it.
- 26,247
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
I saw a new Mirage last Saturday. The "Made in Thailand" Mirage, mind you. Very nice car in my view. Maybe I think too much about Mitsubishi's past. One of the cars I grew up with and loved was the 3000GT/GTO. I was pretty stoked when I learned we'd get the Lancer here in the States back in 2001. I hated the styling change of the 2003 Eclipse outside of the 1990s-2002 Eclipse, but they made up for it beautifully (to me) with the 2006 Eclipse. Heck, I even liked the Mitsubishi Raider.
Now looking at Mitsubishi... they seem about as dead as Isuzu. Sad.
Now looking at Mitsubishi... they seem about as dead as Isuzu. Sad.
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,260
- United States
Ewww.
- 4,761
- Houston, TX
I see they changed the front bumper and side skirt.
And that's it...
And that's it...
- 5,065
- Fort Worth
- That_sneaky_azN
They... Haven't really been trying, have they?
- 5,065
- Fort Worth
- That_sneaky_azN
- 9,554
- Vermont
- catamount39
Not only does it look almost exactly the same...NOW IT LOOKS LIKE A CHEVY! 
This is worse than saying they've given their SUV a facelift...when all they did was add some black paint and a $2 piece of plastic chrome. Mitsubishi sucks.
This is worse than saying they've given their SUV a facelift...when all they did was add some black paint and a $2 piece of plastic chrome. Mitsubishi sucks.
- 5,065
- Fort Worth
- That_sneaky_azN
Isn't it time for them to make a new generation for the Lancer anyway?
About I guess.
First gen: 6 years ('73-'79)
Second gen: 8 years ('79-'87)
Third gen: 12 years ('88-'00)
Fourth gen: 7 years ('00-'07)
The fifth gen is 8 years now?
- 21,286
- GR-MI-USA
- YSSMAN
- YSSMAN
I think we've missed out on the only news that really matters:
Offering AWD and the big engine on every model is a pretty big deal, particularly when Subaru pretty much has the "affordable" AWD end of the market all to themselves. Considering that it seems to be a direct transplant of the bits/bobs from the Outlander Sport, which in of itself was a transplant from the Evolution (dumbed down a bit), it should be a pretty decent system when the weather gets rough. Problem is, Mitsubishi hasn't got a competitive powerplant that's worth a damn in the US, and the interior plastics look woefully out-of-date compared to most of its competition. As a value priced model, sure, it makes sense - especially if you plan to keep it long past where the deprecation sinks the car... Maybe even a lease.
Don't get me wrong, I like the car, and totally think the updates are necessary... But I really wish Mitsubishi would get around to giving us some new cars.
Mitsubishi
Offering AWD and the big engine on every model is a pretty big deal, particularly when Subaru pretty much has the "affordable" AWD end of the market all to themselves. Considering that it seems to be a direct transplant of the bits/bobs from the Outlander Sport, which in of itself was a transplant from the Evolution (dumbed down a bit), it should be a pretty decent system when the weather gets rough. Problem is, Mitsubishi hasn't got a competitive powerplant that's worth a damn in the US, and the interior plastics look woefully out-of-date compared to most of its competition. As a value priced model, sure, it makes sense - especially if you plan to keep it long past where the deprecation sinks the car... Maybe even a lease.
Don't get me wrong, I like the car, and totally think the updates are necessary... But I really wish Mitsubishi would get around to giving us some new cars.
- 23,800
- Philippines
If this is a similar system to that on the Ralliart, it's not quite as smooth as the AWD Subaru uses... then again, nothing in this class is...
Errh... well... nobody else offers standard AWD in the class.
And 99.9% of drivers will never even notice the AWD in operation, so... whatever.
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It's a good idea. Do something different to try and sell. But a facelift wouldn't have hurt. The model has sported the same sheetmetal from the skirts up for nearly a decade. They could go the Toyota way and do a lot of sculpting to the sheetmetal without touching the actual car underneath.
Errh... well... nobody else offers standard AWD in the class.
And 99.9% of drivers will never even notice the AWD in operation, so... whatever.
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It's a good idea. Do something different to try and sell. But a facelift wouldn't have hurt. The model has sported the same sheetmetal from the skirts up for nearly a decade. They could go the Toyota way and do a lot of sculpting to the sheetmetal without touching the actual car underneath.
- 9,554
- Vermont
- catamount39
- 31,103
- Hilversum
- Dennisch
That would be Mitsubishi.
- 9,554
- Vermont
- catamount39
- 31,103
- Hilversum
- Dennisch
Mitsubishi's cars are made by Mitsubishi motors. The parent company is Mitsubishi (group).
- 9,554
- Vermont
- catamount39
- 27,162
- United Kingdom
I'm not sure Mitsubishi has the volume to carry it off in the first place. Investment is certainly key, but when even the automobile market leaders like GM, VW and Toyota have to think long and hard before producing something genuinely interesting rather than a me-too volume car, the chance of Mitsubishi doing so is slim.
That said, they are doing some things right. I maintain that the ASX/Outlander Sport is a pretty decent car in its class, but Mitsubishi does need to get a replacement model ready as soon as possible, otherwise it'll suffer the same fate as the Lancer.
The Mirage won't impress car-folk but as an object of economical, comfortable transportation, it's pretty good - and as @niky has hinted, it's a pretty good car in its own little sphere. It's a pity the dynamics are so far behind the efforts they've made to keep weight down, give it good aerodynamics, a peppy engine and decent build quality.
And while not as high-profile as some companies, they've made some good progress in electric vehicles. It's easy to forget they beat the Leaf to the punch with the i-MiEV, which again was an impressive effort at launch but has probably been around a little too long now with no replacement. And the Outlander PHEV is selling well and drives well too - but its biggest problem so far is that Mitsubishi still doesn't sell the damn thing in the USA, which is where it could genuinely sell in huge numbers.
What would I personally do?
- Put the Lancer out of its misery
- Tweak the Mirage's handling for markets like the US and Europe
- Sell the Outlander PHEV in the States dot-dot-dot PROFIT
Most importantly:
- Line up a Nissan Juke competitor - the market is absolutely lapping up cars like that at the moment. Aim it towards the budget end of the market if necessary, but differentiate it with low weight (possibly based on the Mirage), and more interesting styling, since interesting styling clearly works. Possibly give it a turbocharged version of the Mirage's 1.2 three-cylinder - the base model Juke in Europe is a 1.2-litre turbo and it gets down the road just fine for a car of its type.
In honesty, the real performance stuff isn't a priority. Car enthusiasts need to get out of this 1990s mindset that Japan can endlessly churn out bat-poop crazy stuff like Eunos Cosmos and naturally-aspirated supercars. Financially, there just isn't the incentive any more like there was in Japan's boom period. Carmakers need to think smart now, not think big.
- 23,800
- Philippines
@homeforsummer - A Juke competitor based on the Mirage chassis could definitely be something. The basic lightweight, ultra-stiff unibody would lend itself well to modification for crossover use, and, considering the Mirage is already in the North American market, it could go where the Ford EcoSport hasn't... yet.
A turbocharged variant of that 1.2 liter three pot, all-wheel drive... and you're set.
Big cars are a lost cause. Better to combine efforts with another mid-sized manufacturer and cross-license stuff with them. Eventually, the Triton platform can be leveraged into a global-level Everest/Trailblazer competitor... but it looks like they're simply content to do the Toyota thing I mentioned earlier with this car... the new Triton doesn't seem that big an upgrade over the old one, and it may struggle against the new Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.
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Mitsubishi is far from dead. In fact, it's rather healthy in some markets. But like Suzuki, its strongest markets are far outside the USA.
A turbocharged variant of that 1.2 liter three pot, all-wheel drive... and you're set.
Big cars are a lost cause. Better to combine efforts with another mid-sized manufacturer and cross-license stuff with them. Eventually, the Triton platform can be leveraged into a global-level Everest/Trailblazer competitor... but it looks like they're simply content to do the Toyota thing I mentioned earlier with this car... the new Triton doesn't seem that big an upgrade over the old one, and it may struggle against the new Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.
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Mitsubishi is far from dead. In fact, it's rather healthy in some markets. But like Suzuki, its strongest markets are far outside the USA.
