[shortbread]

I just cant believe or understand how Mitsubishi is simply ignoring the Indian market. It was one of the first companies to find success with diesel sedans and carved an enviable niche for itself. 15 years later nobody would have expected the state of affairs to be so bad!!

Car Majors who are yet to enter India or have done so recently would give a hand and leg for the headstart Mitsubishi has had in India as well their existing sales and service network.To top all this the Mitsubishi brand always had decent goodwill in India, plenty of NRI imports during the license Raj days, Mitsubishi LCVs, enthusiasts love affair with the Evo and last but not the least the much loved Pajero. They also have good diesel expertise.

One would think the Mitsu head ponchos would realize all this and do something. But a decade of lagging sales the company has done literally nothing to prove they are serious about the Indian market. As already pointed out by GTO, their present market performance is tear inducing.

To top the Japanese companies woes is the present state of affairs at HM. I do not think the Birlas have any real intention of being players in the Automotive sector anymore. One gets the feeling they are in a hurry to liquidate any existing assets and turn their backs to the last remaining Iconic Indian car company.

At this rate in a few years time its highly doubtful that anyone sees reason as to why the Indian operations should continue. While this thread so far sounds all gloom, it was never my intention. Simply stating the facts. There is still a lot of hope for Mitsubishi to turn things around.

For the short term Mitsubishi must aim for volumes from the small car market. Mitsubishi already have an agreement with Suzuki to supply them with small cars for sale in Japan. They should try a similar approach in India as well, re brand and market Suzuki made cars. While this might not prove a huge boost to their bottom line at least it will jump start their sales and create visibility in the market. Suzuki could also benefit from this opportunity to move their less successful models like A Star and Ritz.

Mitsubishi needs to take a serious look at India as a production base rather than an assembly operation. Both their small cars the i and Colt are struggling globally, primarily because their higher pricing. Mitsubishi needs to start using India as their small car production base. The localization will help them make the cars cheaper for export as well as price it competitively within India as well.

Last but not the least they should start a major localization and assembly drive of their SUV range and price them aggressively. The thirst for big cars will only grow in India and Mitsubishi is still an aspirational brand when it comes to SUVs.

I know all this is unlikely to happen, though I'd like to be proven wrong !!!

[suhaas307]

I see so many great looking Mitsubishis in other markets. The new Lancer is a great product and would do very well if it's brought here. I wonder what's stopping Mitsubishi from bringing that here?

The Mitsubishi Galant too, could prove to be very dangerous for the competition if launched here with a tasty price-tag.

I did notice GTO mentioning that HM/Mitsubishi will shut shop soon. Dwindling sales in the obvious reason. But can't they do something about it? Or at least try?

[mayankjha1806]

Do they still have that HM-Mitsubishi tie-up. I was told in one of the test drives that the tie-up with HM is just for importing parts and they are planning (or already) started building infrastructure to assemble all models here.

Not really sure of its authenticity as i never was planning to buy one, especially looking at the way test drives were given.

I wish they come alone, and build cars and infrastructure here. Doing this with HM is not helping them one bit.

[neoranjit]

Its not their fault when a 15 year old product that should have sold for the next 30 years with no add ons / upgrades , just stopped selling
Its not their fault when a 50L Evo was launched in a country that had a booming economy did not do too well ( Not that it would have created a dent in their revenue numbers )
Its not their fault when they launch a Outlander with a couple of boom boxes inside and expect it to sell like hot cakes and doesn't really take off
Yeah, during the land of the Raj, a lot of folks loved the Pajero. But for some reason, they don't seem to love it that much. Me and Mitsu are both wondering why !!!

But the good news is, if they shut shop, am sure they should have a great stock clearance sale.

[avishar]

To be a success in any market you need lots of money,especially in place like India.Also tailor your products carefully for the Indian market,with lots of preparation and effort required.Mitsubishi does not want to put that effort in the Indian market.They need to ramp up production,build new plants,launch cheaper products like sedan and hatchback,and these should be competively priced,reliable and have enough features.Its not so easy to crack the Indian market and Mitsubishi seems to have fallen into a stupor.Just getting global models here and selling them in single digits every months not going to work.

Having said that its a great company with a long lineage and legacy,and it has a quite a good brand recall and following in India.But if it wants to grab a bigger pie it must start moving,or else it will be a fringe player.

[aravind.anand]

I had hopes on Mistsubishi when the Lancer Evo X was going to be launched. They were supposed to launch the car with a decent and practical diesel mill too. What happened to those plans? Are you guys sleeping? Dreaming that the existing Lancer+Cedia will bring in volumes? And the Montero and Outlander will become leaders someday?

And the recently revealed Mitsubishi Mirage small car? It looks like a toned down i20! And the i20 is due for a Fluidic facelift soon too. Why do they even bother producing it? Maybe HM's sleep happy nature has caught onto them now?

[Turbokick]

Great going.
- There was never a complain regarding the service and support.
- There was never any brand issue
- There was never a reliability factor
- There was never dearth of competent cars,atleast internationally

There was never a problem actually.

As it is said in hindi 'khud apne per pe kulhaadi maarna' (to hit your leg with an axe).
Mistubishi could have been in the top 5 brands.

[bigron]

From where i stay , i dont see them shutting shop soon. You ll be amazed how many people buy the lancer diesel and the century old pajero in my part of the world. But then again you can sell them a shopping cart with a "diesel engine" and they ll buy it. And the pajero gives them the " we have a pajero " tag to boost. Age old products and pathetic A.S,S ( now) , Mitsubhishi seriously needs to reconsider their plan.

[libranof1987]

Wasn't there a talk of Mitsubishi getting one of their hatchbacks to India? Guess there even a thread about it.

But going by the present situation where Mitsubishi has only a handful of cars; and none of them built in India, the future hardly seems bright and shiny.

Outlander isn't getting them numbers and there's only a certain limit up to which Pajero will command that "we have a Pajero" novelty.

If they don't diversify their portfolio and more importantly, don't have India-specific models and operations, they'll just be another "has-beens".. not a force to reckon with.

I don't understand why potential market leaders like Fiat and Mitsubishi fool around with their strategies in India.

[Ford5]

I remember a converstion i had with a mitsubishi dealer years ago about a major expansion plan for Mistubishi India from the parent company. And then the Yen went Kaput. Now i can argue as to how Nissan from Japan too managed the same thing from scratch.

Besides mitsubushi apart from their failed partnership with HM in india, has a lot of other revenue generating businesses such as elevators, A/C's and as a reputed OEM supplier for many industrial products in India. I guess theyr'e more interested with the Yens flowing back from these arenas than having the full Mistubishi Automotive brand over here.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Great going.
- There was never a complain regarding the service and support.
- There was never any brand issue
- There was never a reliability factor
- There was never dearth of competent cars,atleast internationally

Add to that, there was never really any effort put by Mitsubishi to consolidate on their success.

They are just not bothered about the Indian market.

The first thing they ought to do is divorce the HM-Mitsubishi JV and come out on their own.

Come to think of it, when was the last time you saw an ad from Mitsubishi? Except the New Out Lander's Rohit Bahl signature ad?

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by shortbread

It was one of the first companies to find success with diesel sedans and carved an enviable niche for itself.

Originally Posted by Turbokick

As it is said in hindi 'khud apne per pe kulhaadi maarna' (to hit your leg with an axe). Mistubishi could have been in the top 5 brands.

And how did they do it? Lancer diesel (7th gen) was huge success. But the next generation of Lancer (Cedia), never came with or still has a diesel variant !
Its like Maruti withdrawing diesel option from recently launched 3rd gen Swift.

[ajay_satpute]

Overall, they are not doing too well anywhere, neither in their home land nor overseas. Press Release | Mitsubishi Motors Corporation

[aaggoswami]

I wonder why Internationally Mitsubishi suffered. I would any given day rate Mitsubishi better than Hyundai.
What Mitsubishi needs right now Internationally :
1) A brand new Pajero. The current one is getting long in the tooth. Pajero is known for its strong and extremely well engineered underpinnings. They have to get back to strong product in the brand of Pajero.

2) Supplying diesel Units.
They have good new diesel in 1.8, 2.2 guise. They can supply the diesels to many,including Suzuki.

3) More aggressively designed Mirage to compete with new gen Hyundai's and Honda's. Even Toyota, mainly with Prius has gone the funky design way.

For India :
Diesels Mitsubishi, diesels. You have them, bring them in Outlander, try talking to others including Mahindra and Maruti for engines. GV, Kizashi and SX4 with 2.2 ltrs. and 1.8 ltr. diesels would rock the segments ( given Kizashi's figures ) or atleast make a mark.

The current lancer just made it with EVO form, but not otherwise. Why, only Mitsubishi knows. But still they can launch it and the brand is still not that bad. Coupled with diesel at City price point, they have a winner at hand.

Best ( Globally ) : Merge with somebody who can utilize the engineering skills ( mainly good rally experience ). Standing up individually from the mess they are in is next to impossible. Toyota or even GM might be interested given the image ( which is quite strong mainly due to 4X4 )

A few images of Mirage. If this car has a good diesel at price point lower than Swift, it will sell IMO.

[nawalsingal]

Just read this article:
2012 Mitsubishi Mirage unveiled | Latest Autos & Car News | OnCars.in

Do they really plan to launch this in India? Any guesses?