[undead]

Launch of Pajero Sport's automatic variant next fiscal: HM

CHENNAI: CK Birla Group company Hindustan Motors has finalised an agreement with Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors to launch automatic variant of the premium sports utility vehicle 'Pajero Sport' during next fiscal, a top official has said.

"The company has finalised an agreement with its long time collaborator Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Japan to launch an automatic version of the renowned SUV Pajero Sport...," Hindustan Motors Chairman, C K Birla said at the company's annual general meeting, held at Kolkata recently.

The manual version of SUV Pajero Sport was launched in March 2012 and it was one of the successive models for both Mitsubishi Motors and Hindustan Motors.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/28597525.cms

[mints21]

This is one of a solid bond that exists between two car manufacturers with both the parties equally lethargic in a fast and competitive market like India. Knowing very well that Pajero is not selling the numbers that the car of its stature should have done, they are bringing an automatic variant. The sale of automatic variant in SUV's is comparatively less than the manual ones.

I wonder what is their take on Indian market and how do they read it. They continue to slog and still no aggression is seen in both the partners where they can stand up and commit to bringing in at least competitive sales numbers.

[chaudh2s]

Mitsubishi, it seems is here to stay, atleast for the time being. An article in economic times states they plan to launch an AT variant of pajero next fiscal. The link:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/28597525.cms

They have already withdrawn outlander, cedia and Lancer EVO, to focus on Pajero and Montero in India.
It's high time our moderators do a full scale Pajero review/comparo with competing models. It's long time pending.

[amtak]

HM is planning to sell its chennai facility and Mitsubishi is not keep on buying it. How can we be sure that it is serious?

[swiftnfurious]

Sorry, but the thread title is misleading. I thought the "refocus" part came from the company. I think this thread can be merged with the existing thread.

So much for the quality of the report. They could NOT manage a Pajero Sport image!! Are they unaware that Outlander & Cedia has been withdrawn?!

Besides Pajero, Hindustan Motors has been retailing other premium SUVs Outlander, Montero, sedan 'Cedia'.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/28597525.cms

[khoj]

Mitsu refuses to buy a piece of land that does not have a clear title and is mired in legal tangles between HM group companies.

How does a prudent business decision of not throwing good money after bad translate in to their being serious or otherwise about the market.

Originally Posted by amtak

HM is planning to sell its chennai facility and Mitsubishi is not keep on buying it. How can we be sure that it is serious?

[JEHU]

Oh how I loved my CEDIA until I couldn't find the right mechanic and fetch its spares. I respect, admire and have great regards for this car maker who gives so much of attention to detail in creating a Car! Let them bring in some new cars for the masses and maintain their premium and enthusiast range of cars too.This can help them stay afloat until the recession in automotive sector recedes.

@ Mod Gods: Kindly bear with me if I sound silly here. Has it ever occurred to you to take over a wonderful but ailing auto maker and turn its fortunes around. Was it ever in your wishlist even when you were a child or a management student. Is there anything that this wonderful family of us TEAM BHPians could do to save another good brand from failing
(Mods:Please delete this if it sounds way too irrelevant to this topic)

Fortuner has walked away with the spot that Pajero had for itself for many years. HM should atleast have managed to bid for providing official vehicles for politicians when Ambassador was fading from the scene. What can the launch of an automatic do to save a brand thats on a exit mode? Being a Mitsubishi fan and who relished owning a CEDIA, I could only hope and wish HM and MITSU thus: Get Well Soon!

[suv100]

Originally Posted by khoj

Mitsu refuses to buy a piece of land that does not have a clear title and is mired in legal tangles between HM group companies.

How does a prudent business decision of not throwing good money after bad translate in to their being serious or otherwise about the market.

If Mitsu doesn't buy the Thiruvallur factory then HM might be forced to sell it to a third party. What would happen to Mitsubishi India without any facility for manufacture or assembly? I hope they won't take it as an excuse to beat a hasty retreat from India leaving all Mitsu owners in the lurch.

Anyway it was a golden opportunity for Mitsubishi to get HM off its back and go it alone in India.

[khoj]

And what happens if Mitusu buys a property that has multiple liens on it.

They will find all of the lenders to HM standing in line "ahead of them" as claimants to the land.

Where does that leave Mitsubishi ? Having spent the money and without a clear title, where would they go then ?

There is already a court stay which stops HM from transferring/selling the land to it's own sister concern till the various issues related to that plot are sorted.

Things are not as straight forward as they appear to be.

As for Mitsubishi or any other company for that matter being serious or not about a certain market does not hinge upon their owning a parcel of land.
It can be one of the factors that point in a certain direction but cannot be the deciding factor.

Originally Posted by suv100

If Mitsu doesn't buy the Thiruvallur factory then HM might be forced to sell it to a third party. What would happen to Mitsubishi India without any facility for manufacture or assembly? I hope they won't take it as an excuse to beat a hasty retreat from India leaving all Mitsu owners in the lurch.

Anyway it was a golden opportunity for Mitsubishi to get HM off its back and go it alone in India.

[suv100]

Originally Posted by khoj

And what happens if Mitusu buys a property that has multiple liens on it.

They will find all of the lenders to HM standing in line "ahead of them" as claimants to the land.

Where does that leave Mitsubishi ? Having spent the money and without a clear title, where would they go then ?

There is already a court stay which stops HM from transferring/selling the land to it's own sister concern till the various issues related to that plot are sorted.

Things are not as straight forward as they appear to be.

As for Mitsubishi or any other company for that matter being serious or not about a certain market does not hinge upon their owning a parcel of land.
It can be one of the factors that point in a certain direction but cannot be the deciding factor.

Considering HM's present financial situation I don't think they will be able to operate the thiruvallur factory for much longer. So either way Mitsu has reached a dead end. If they were to set up a factory of their own it would take atleast a minimum of 2-3 years and a re-entry wouldn't be easy at all.

[arjab]

Mitsubishi, in its own is a fantastic and innovative car company.

Historically speaking, Mitsubishi have always been known for producing highly capable, robust, well engineered cars .
They are intensely focused on Durability, Quality and Reliability (DQR - in japanese product development speak), and at the same time produce cars which are enjoyable to drive. As everyone knows, the reliability & performance of the Pajero's in successive Paris-Dakar's is now the stuff of legends.

The technological prowess of Mitsubishi Motors is also held in very high esteem by the automotive community. Ask Hyundai and Proton, and they will gratefully acknowledge, that without the Japanese company hand-holding them in their formative years, they would definitely not have achieved the levels of success they are enjoying now.

But sadly, when it comes to looking after itself, MMC seems to flounder. They should have ventured long back into India and other emerging economies.
Instead of languishing and dragging their tech-transfer partnership with the jaded HM, MMC should have come into its own into India at least 10 years earlier.

In fact even now it is not too late. If Renault can taste success with a single product - and overnight turn itself from a completely unknown French brand to the talk of the town, I am sure MMC - which is already known in India, (no Lancer or Cedia owner ever criticises their product), seriously overhauls its service network, dumps HM into the bin and comes in on its own - has assured chances of success - in fact i can stick my neck out and say - it will be more popular than its other Japanese neighbours , such as Nissan et al.

MMC has almost everything in its product line that India needs: small cars, B-segment hatches, C-sedans, formidable range of SUV's, pickup trucks, even LCV's & light buses to take on the Tempo Traveller brigade.

Hope the MMC management are reading T-Bhp and sooner rather than later decide to foray into our market. They won't be disappointed.

[Aditya]

HM-Mitsubishi has announced that it will launch the Pajero Sport SUV with an automatic transmission in India, this autumn. The Pajero Sport AT is likely to use the same 2.5-litre, turbo charged, diesel engine as its manual sibling. This unit develops 178 PS and 400 Nm of torque and comes attached to a 5-speed transmission, which is expected to be replaced by a 5-speed automatic gearbox.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[Aditya]

Mitsubishi has confirmed that it will launch the Pajero Sport in August.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[Neel]

i hear that this will be a 4x2 variant only. anyone hearing something different?

[Sunnysm]

Originally Posted by Neel

i hear that this will be a 4x2 variant only. anyone hearing something different?

It indeed is 4*2. I did a test drive of Pajero Sport yesterday. The person from the dealership informed me that there will not be a 4*4 option in automatic. He said he had driven the automatic model.