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 Chrysler Corporation, with rebranded Plymouth and Dodge models filling the Detroit automaker’s product line. Years later, Mitsubishi went independent, established its own dealer network, and capitalized on peak demand for its hot, compact models.
US struggles
These days, Mitsubishi is struggling to find its place in North America, with an underutilized assembly plant supplying some product, but with demand far from what it should be. Other automakers have caught on and have long bypassed Mitsubishi, leaving the Japanese automaker to examine whether it should be a force in the American market.
Mitsubishi has no plans to follow Isuzu out of the US, but they are planning to make some major changes in a bid to recapture past glory and liven up their model line. Expect the following changes to help the automaker increase its presence and relevance in the highly competitive US market:
Plant changes – Mitsubishi’s only American assembly plant is located in Normal, Illinois, and is far from approaching construction capacity. The Eclipse is built there, a specialized model that still has some appeal. However, the aged Galant and dated Endeavor are also built in Illinois. All three lines will soon be discontinued in Illinois, and will be replaced by more popular models, the Outlander crossover and Lancer sedan, for 2013.
Electric vehicle – The i-MiEV name does not have a ring, but represents the “Mitsubishi Wheel Motor Electric Vehicle” which is planned to be launched globally. This model is already sold to government fleets in Japan, beating the Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt on the market. The American version of this compact car is expected to be larger and go on sale sometime in 2011. It will be made 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 for the current Galant midsize sedan. That model is woefully out of date, on sale in the US market as of 2003 with minor renovations since then. If Mitsubishi wants to get things done, a competitive midsize sedan is a must. Even a smaller Suzuki solved that problem, selling its Kizashi sedan in the most competitive vehicle segment.
In 2010, Mitsubishi’s sales increased 3 percent in a market where car sales increased 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 regain a viable presence in the competitive US market.