US Launch of Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Delayed to 2015

I was wondering why Mitsubishi might bring to US when they could have sold everyone for heavy profit in Europe and Japan. Well, that resolved my wondering.

Happy Mitsubishi is doing something successful overall as a car company. Besides, in the US, they would have to discount deeply to get a sale, which goes against running a business. Hopefully, they are very successful and hence be able to build in quantity and quality by the time the Outlander PHEV comes here. Only then can they be successful being in America.

 

Mitsu who? Do they still make cars?

 

Just heard an acquaintance of my aunt bought one. As an entrepeneur (think you only pay less than half eand get the rest refunded in taxreductions).

I'm friggin' jealous. If only you could also get it as a 7 seater...

 

Mitsubishi’s Extended Range Outlander PHEV Now On Sale In Europe (video)

 

Recently, we in Australia are being hit by a series of ads for the Mitsubishi PHEV Outlander.

Outlander PHEV - Hybrid SUV - Mitsubishi Motors Australia

The above link is to the Mitsubishi Australia web page for the vehicle. It is amazing how many of the controls and screens look just like the Prius controls and screens.

So it appears that Australia is also getting the vehicle before the US.

 

The company has only been around for what ... nearly a hundred years?
Funny thing is - how big demand is for this plugin hybrid. If Toyota - Ford - or even GM had introduced this a year ago or so ... I doubt whether the Mitsu would have been so popular. But ... being the only game in town certainly has its advantages. Pathetically - Toyota has chosen to ignore the demand - so - NO plug in SUV you you!! ... at least not from Toyota. What a shame. Toyota's rational? 'oh ... it'd cost too much for the general population. Really?
.

 

They sold a whopping (drum roll please)...................... 8,600 cars in the USA last year.

Auto Sales - Markets Data Center - WSJ.com Automobile sales are almost an afterthought for this giant corporation.

Speaking of corporations according to wiki, they hold this distinction:

In March 1998 the Mitsubishi Corporation received the quarterly Greenwash Award. It was awarded to them for their efforts to portray its businesses, which are actually some of the most destructive on earth, as environmentally friendly. Through the use of public relations the corporation tried to convince the world that their subsidiaries facility off the coast of Mexico was environmentally benign. The facility is a salt evaporation factory and is in a lagoon that also holds the last pristine Grey Whale calving ground.[5] As of 2009, Mitsubishi held between 35% to 40% of the worldwide market for bluefin tuna, a highly endangered species of fish.[6]

 

The prediction from some think tank/analyst group, which reportedly has a good track record on this, has Mitsubishi and Volvo leaving the US market this year. While Mitsu is a large and old company, I think they have gotten lumped in the same group with Suzuki in terms of appeal to car buyers. This SUV PHV and the new Mirage might turn their US fortunes around.

Considering what Toyota charges for a HiHy, a PHV version from them probably would be too expensive for the general population.

 

'highly protected' ?? Well, there's endangered ... and below that (where you are required to catch & relese) there's protected. Several of our group @ work go out fishing in Mexican waters 1 to 3 day trips. Last time, I caught 2 bluefin, besides yellowtail. There's not even a size/length issue, requiring catch & release. All that to say ... Mitsu may very well be a horrible company environmentally, iduno. But the whole bluefin thing ? It can't be based off that. So if that's not true ... I'd not be comfortable relying on the other stuff ... just sayin'
.

 

It should be a winner here;


Explore the Outlander PHEV | The world's most advanced plug-in hybrid | Mitsubishi Motors UK


But as it costs LESS in the UK than the PIP (Mitsubishi £28,249 to PIP at £28,395) why would you want the PIP? You can go double the distance in the Outlander (32 miles EV to 15), go faster, carry more etc etc etc. In a Country with petrol over $8 a US gallon.

Just shows how lame and overpriced the UK PIP is. Toyota UK just didn't understand the PIP, what it was about and importantly how it compares to the competition.

 

Or they do and just don't care to sell it.

 

A compliance car? You think Toyota would do something so cynical?

 

Really?

Keep in mind the Netherlands have 20 times fewer inhabitants than the US (~16 million or so).

Mitsubishi sold about the same amount (8,000) in Outlander PHEV's alone in the last quarter of 2013. All ordered before they could be testdriven.
So extrapolated to the US (although obviously not realistic) would mean over 150,000 Outlander PHEV's...

As mentioned above, Toyota doesn't get it. The PIP has the same fiscal advantages (=less tax), but e.g. is smaller, puny range and has no towing capability. It sold about 1200.

(V60 plugin, also capable of towing a caravan, the national passtime in the Netherlands: 6000 cars. Of which many were imported because Volvo couldn't even remotely keep up with the demand and it was sold out for half the year...)

(Model S, also only available in the last quarter sold about 1000. Almost as many Tesla's sold as PIP's)

 

Mitsubishi isn't doing well in the US. There are only six models listed on their site, and three of them are Lancers.
Crossovers, Electric Vehicles, Sedans, Hatchbacks | Mitsubishi Motors
The i-MiEV is still there as an upcoming vehicle. This Outlander PHV isn't listed there.

The Mirage might revive the brand here. In the first three months of the year, 3750 sold. More than half of what Mitsu projected for the year.
Who Bought All These Chevy Sparks And Mitsubishi Mirages In March?
The PHV will also help, if the US branch makes it to 2015.

 

Is it any loss? I remember talking to the CEO of a UK car brand (remaining nameless) who said there is absolutely no profit in the US other than volume. I guess it's easier to sell millions of cars in India, China and Russia and make money than it is to comply to ever restrictive and protectionist requirements in a market where you barely make money.

I am surprised Mitsubishi is still going in the US with those numbers.

 

That's why it is predicted Mitsubishi and Volvo will be gone from here by the end of the year. It probably isn't a loss to the companies beyond prestige and ego. It is to us consumers though. We'll lose another 2 or 3 plug in options. Personally, if the Mirage had been announced a couple months sooner, I would have held off on getting the Sonic. Plus, I have always been found of the Volvo wagons, and they are coming back.

 

... yet the premise of the OP's article is that Mitsu intends to deploy an extreamly well received offering. I guess that's what's hard to reconcile ... not that auto manufacturers have any obligation to NOT be dishonest.
.

 

Well the prediction is coming out of an outside group. They have a good batting average on such things, like predicting the demise of Suzuki. They could be wrong, and this prediction came out before the success of the Mirage.

 

Strange that both Mitsubishi and Suzuki have increased their market share in the UK.

The new car market winners and losers of 2013 | Autocar

Suzuki stands in the UK Top 20 - Car Dealer Magazine