Mitsubishi Not Dead Yet: Nissan Takes Control

[RocZX]

Rumor- Mitsubishi to close US plant.

Japan's Nikkei news service said the move to cease production at Mitsubishi's factory in Normal, Ill., is part of a strategic shift to the growing Asian market.

The company has "no statement," said a spokesperson for Mitsubishi Motors North America. A source familiar with the company's strategy said: "We have no plans to stop selling. We are concentrating on enhancing our selling in the United States."

The Nikkei report said Mitsubishi, one of Japan's smallest automakers, would look for a buyer for the plant, which opened in 1988 as a joint venture between Mitsubishi and its then-partner, Chrysler.

The report also said Mitsubishi would begin negotiations with labor representatives to maintain employment for the plant's 918 workers, who are represented by the UAW.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos, in an emailed statement on Thursday, said, "I have heard nothing, and am trying to get information" from the plant, which is located about 140 miles southwest of Chicago.

Kyle Young, vice president of UAW Local 2488, which represents the plant's workers, said the union's contract expires in August.

"We haven't heard anything," he said in a phone interview. "We're supposed to have negotiations coming up" on a new contract. In the meantime, "it's business as usual here - we're pumping out cars."

The Normal plant is the only Japanese-owned U.S. auto factory whose hourly workers are represented by the UAW.

Autonews.com

 

[Northstar]

The only surprising part about that is the fact they managed to find work for 918 people.

Hopefully they can find them all new jobs, granted it's partly their fault as the writing has only been on the wall for about a decade.

 

[YSSMAN]

Funny enough, I saw a new Outlander Sport for the first time I could recall out on the actual streets. Not that it was an American-built model, but, holy crow... An actual modern Mitsubishi. I was blown away.

I think we're on the leading edge of the bubble here for Mitsubishi. Without any new products, they aren't shifting any ground against the competition. And while improvements to models like the Outlander Sport make them a halfway decent alternative, abysmal resale values aren't helping things along.

 

[mustafur]

Mitsubishi, worlds most complacent car company.

Every model is either severely outdated, or not even trying.

They need a New Lancer badly and not only that but it needs to be a Class Leader or this company risks extinction.

 

[Tornado]

Isn't Normal the old Diamond Star Motors plant? If they aren't even shifting enough cars to justify keeping that open...

 

[Grandea GTR]

You know, I'm beginning to think Mitsubishi is slowly getting better in terms of quality. I saw the 2016 Outlander today, I thought it looked pretty nice.

 

[mustafur]

Is that just the now 3rd facelift for the 2008 Outlander?

Crazy to see how far they have fallen since the 90s, back then they where the Tech Masters in performance cars now they don't even have one.

 

[Grandea GTR]

Is that just the now 3rd facelift for the 2008 Outlander?

It's the refreshed version of the 2012 model. It has upgraded in quality a bit.

 

[YSSMAN]

You know, I'm beginning to think Mitsubishi is slowly getting better in terms of quality. I saw the 2016 Outlander today, I thought it looked pretty nice.

The Outlander and Outlander Sport are both pretty impressive, and its a damn shame that they don't get the attention that they deserve. The 2016 Outlander Sport looks damn good inside and out, and as I understand it, it drives pretty well, too. But, I don't know if I'd choose it over the likes of the Renegade, Juke, or whatever other small/sporty CUV there is.

 

[Grandea GTR]

The Outlander and Outlander Sport are both pretty impressive, and its a damn shame that they don't get the attention that they deserve. The 2016 Outlander Sport looks damn good inside and out, and as I understand it, it drives pretty well, too. But, I don't know if I'd choose it over the likes of the Renegade, Juke, or whatever other small/sporty CUV there is.

One thing I would like to point out about the Outlander is that it still uses an SOHC V6. I wonder why...?

 

[homeforsummer]

The Outlander and Outlander Sport are both pretty impressive, and its a damn shame that they don't get the attention that they deserve. The 2016 Outlander Sport looks damn good inside and out, and as I understand it, it drives pretty well, too. But, I don't know if I'd choose it over the likes of the Renegade, Juke, or whatever other small/sporty CUV there is.

A Juke is more fun than an Outlander Sport (sold as the ASX here) but despite the Mitsubishi not being a great deal bigger on the road it's far more accommodating of people and things.

I quite like the Outlander. Driven it in diesel and PHEV forms. The PHEV is genuinely impressive - it's currently the top-selling plug-in vehicle in the UK, and I'm not at all surprised. Drives well, looks okay, and absolutely nails our current tax structure, company car fees etc. Also, it barely costs any more than the diesel. Virtually every one I see is the hybrid now.

 

[mister dog]

Reading through this thread i wondered how come there were no likes for so many good posts. Then i realized it already dates back 3 years before GTP's facebook era

Sad to see Mitsu's demise in the automobile world appearing at the horizon, the old Lancers and Galants were personal favorites of mine. The 2 'new' models presented here both look ugly and cheap with ridiculously small wheels and chunky bodies. I guess with their renewed focus on the Asian market as mentioned above, they'll just go for the standard looking shopping trolleys people would get at an entry level price in China and India, added with the pick up trucks that are still immensely popular with the Taliban.

 

[05XR8]

With Miitsubishi closing that plant in Illinois, I wonder if it would be better for the company to focus on one or two models. A CUV and Lancer(just have one flavor: EVOLUTION).

 

[YSSMAN]

It'd benefit Mitsubishi to take a Mazda approach and narrow down what they are doing, but part of the problem they have (I think), is that they lack a lot of capacity to engineer all of the things they need to have a completely competent lineup.

The Lancer is old and out of date, they don't have a competent mid-size sedan, and as much as they can tout dumping the Mirage on every market... A cheap car doesn't exactly bring all the boys to the yard. If they've got one thing going for them, they've got two very competent CUVs, but without the high quality and resale value marks that almost all of their competitors have... They won't move vehicles like they could have 10, 15, or 20 years ago.

If I were Mitsubishi, I'd look for a partner to develop a mid-size sedan and a compact, ASAP. Developing powertrains that are up to date on size and performance would be important, but not critical. But where they need to improve most is sense of quality, with drastically improved materials, and at least one "killer app" to make people consider their car/crossover over the others... Even if it isn't the best choice.

 

[mustafur]

It's a Shame because when the Current Lancer came out it was a Market leader its partnership with Premium Audio Brand Rockford Fosgate was a good plan, but now the car is ageing badly and atleast 3 years out of date.

Smartest Partnership I think for them would be with Hyundai/Kia.

Their Current plan looks to be replacing Hyundai/Kias former Market of cheapness though.

 

[homeforsummer]

but now the car is ageing badly and atleast 3 years out of date

It is, but at the same time I think it's still quite a handsome car to look at. That's one thing this generation of Lancer has always had.

I had to go on the Mitsubishi site to see what these were selling for these days. $17,395 apparently. A Sentra is a grand less. To me, the Lancer is far better to look at and realistically there's probably not much in it on the road either. It's just that if your kinda-dull "sport sedan" is a grand more than the kinda-dull sedan offered by a competitor, you're not going to sell many.

 

[YSSMAN]

I think there's a way for Mitsubishi to be a downmarket, but fun, option. Which I suppose is where they're at now... With cars that are nearing 10 years old (or more).

It'd be interesting to see a reskinned Forte with a properly sorted suspension, but I have my doubts if the bosses at Hyundai would let Mitsu off with something like that.

 

[RocZX]

I
If I were Mitsubishi, I'd look for a partner to develop a mid-size sedan and a compact, ASAP.

Smartest Partnership I think for them would be with Hyundai/Kia.

They are already in partnership with Nissan, they sell a rebadged Nissan Fuga/Infiniti M in Japan.

And it seems they works to get midsized rebadged car with Nissan.

 

[YSSMAN]

Huh, go figure.

Ya know, there's a weird world where an Altima 2.5S with a little more steering feel and better tires would be just fine as a Gallant. Its a great chassis that I assume Mitsubishi could do great things with, but I don't think Nissan would like having a competitor selling the better car.

 

[homeforsummer]

Styling certainly doesn't scream "Mitsubishi" though. The Galant hasn't really been the same since the fantastic shark-nosed one.

 

[05XR8]

Styling certainly doesn't scream "Mitsubishi" though. The Galant hasn't really been the same since the fantastic shark-nosed one.

This one sold like crazy in the states. The Diamante wasnt bad as a Mazda Millenia competitor.

Just took too long to get the Evo and the USA missing out on the Ralliart Colt Turbo as well, just when the Jazz was finally on offer.

 

[mustafur]

We never got the late 90s Galant here, Mitsubishi Australia were too busy selling us the pathetic Magna.

The VR4 Turbo could of easily took alot of HSV and FPV(what ever it was called at the time)Market.

 

[Fangin4Pinks]

Mitsubishi still exists? Should have kicked the bucket when some genius decided it would be a good idea to discontinue the Evolution. Mitsubishi was great in its day though, a friend of mine has a 1990 Galant VR4 Turbo I have driven and its absolutely insane.

 

[RocZX]

Mirage will skip 2016 model year but will return update in 2017 and with sedan variant.

Mitsubishi, which has excluded the tiny Mirage subcompact from its 2016 plans, but, curiously, isn’t permanently killing the little guy.

So it’s a little strange, but stick with us here. This spring, Mitsubishi will introduce an early 2017 Mirage that will have powertrain and chassis updates. In the meantime, we imagine there are more than enough of the 2015 models sitting around dealer lots to keep Mitsu covered for the intervening months. So, the company saves the time and effort required to federalize and market a (brief) 2016-model-year Mirage, probably without losing any sales.

Coinciding with the updated, 2017 Mirage hatchback’s arrival is the introduction of four-door sedan Mirage variant, a model sold elsewhere in the world and sure to fluff sales Stateside.

Car & Driver

 

[Endless-Wilso]

They are already in partnership with Nissan, they sell a rebadged Nissan Fuga/Infiniti M in Japan.

Good lord thats hideous how could Nissan let this happen.

 

[SagarisGTB]

Good lord thats hideous how could Nissan let this happen.

Nissan lets Mitsubishi put diamonds on Fugas and Cimas, and in return Nissan is allowed to sell rebranded (and facelifted) kei cars from the Mitsubishi eK line. This cooperation saves a great deal of money for both firms.

 

[Aloha62_2]

Haven't really thought about mistubishi in years so have just checked their UK website to see what is available... yeah uninspiring to say the least. A few miserable 'super minis' and a collection of 4x4's in Land Rover country. It has been a long time since I have seen a large car company putting in so little effort.

No hatch range being led by a Turbo hot-hatch? No range leading saloon with estate/sports/diesel variants? Nope. Just no effort at all reskin an outlander and just keep trying to sell it.

 

[GTboyz]

I never really know why they discontinued the Evolution. Is there any good reason behind that move ? I'm a bit sad everytime i see one of the Evos on the road because they don't make them anymore.

 

[CTznOfTime]

Guess what guys??


Mitsubishi is on the right track/path...


In order to get back in the auto business, they have to start from the basic and mend themselves back together again...


What a better way than to sew them with strong threads....

We will get our Evos for the cold weather in no time!

 

[Grayfox]

I never really know why they discontinued the Evolution. Is there any good reason behind that move ? I'm a bit sad everytime i see one of the Evos on the road because they don't make them anymore.

Because they hit 10?

It would soundn't nice Lancer Evo XIV or what ever gen they are on.