[Sparkie]

Hey guys,

I had gone to the Mitsubishi showroom in Chennai a couple of days back where I had a few questions for the salesman(SM). I have written the below not in the exact words as they had been said but the message is the same:

Me: Is Mitsubishi's future in India uncertain?
SM: Last year Mitsubishi Heavy Industries helped Mitsubishi Motors to recover from it's bad state. Now the Japanese government has told Mitsubishi to seriously consider India as an export base. Next year we will also be launching a new SUV. The Montero has been launched in India before being launched in the US. We are also going to get more aggresive about advertising.

Me: How is the resale value of the Cedia?
SM: I can't give you any figures on that because we have not seen a Cedia in the used car market in Chennai till now.

Me: When is the new Lancer coming to India?
SM: 2009 ( )! It will be sold alongside the Cedia.


Overall, this person drew a very healthy picture of Mitsubishi's future in India. And the new Lancer will be here in 2009! And for the marketing bit, I myself saw a Pajero fully covered in muck being prepared for a marketing photo shoot(at first I was wondering how a customer had managed to cover his Pajero in muck like that)!

The only thing that has been holding my folks back from buying a Cedia has been the low resale value but after repeatedly re-evaluating all the cars being considered, the Cedia still seems to be the pick of the lot. So my Father has now decided he is willing to forfeit 'good resale value' in favour of what we feel is a more desirable car. You have to pay for what you want don't you!

[President]

I own the CEDIA and have clocked 13,000 kms trouble free. Very good car and VFM. If re-sale value is not a problem, just GO FOR IT! You will not regret.

CEDIA

[Torqueguru]

Good decision my friend, go for it. Its a pleasure driving the cedia, makes u feel u jus dont wanna stop driving in it!

[megger]

Cedia is a real pleasure to drive. Why compromise just for the sake of resale value. Car is like second home where we all spend a good amount of time and even our families!

I visited Bhopal recently and was surprised to see the level of Cedia publicity. It was all over the place, on largest hoardings in the city as well as inside theaters.

[GTO]

Me: Is Mitsubishi's future in India uncertain?

Actually, forget the future....they dont even have a "present". HM has merely tied up with Mitsu to distribute their products. Mitsubishi has not invested a dime in our country.

That said, if you really like the Cedia just go for it. Its a nice machine. Use it for 5 - 7 years so you dont have to worry about resale.

[hillram]

Over here in Hyderabad..Sureka Auto service really sucks.I own a Mitsubishi Lancer and they are unable to service it properly with out any issues.I have written many times to the company and got redressal.
Thats the same reason im a bit hesistant to go for a Cedia and invest close to 10 lakhs.But i feel its an awesome car esp in Aussie Yellow !!!

[RajaTaurus]

Good decision Buddy..
"Mileage and Resale Value" - Two things Cedia lovers / Cedia Owners don't like to hear...
It's pleasure driving a Cedia. The confidence you get behind the wheel, you will never get with any other Indian Car...
The Braking is fantastic... Even better than my old Camry...
I really feel like I am driving a beemer. (this car is Poor Man's beemer... so to say...) Tough yet elegant...
Own it to Know it...

[Anju]

Resale value of Mitsibishi is not at all great in India.
Just check with any resale showroom, you'll realise this.
Mitsubishi is troubled water as a company. I think needs a great CEO like Carlos Ghosn to revive its fortune.

But car per say, Cedia is a very good car in its category.
As megger said, why bother of resale. Enjoy the car. I like this perspective.
We plan as if we live 100 years and keep compromising/posponing on things we like. !!


Anju

[vasudeva]

Of course, the salesman will paint a bright picture since his commission and job depends on that. But as of now Mitsubishi is giving out mixed signals. Remember, their overall global profitability and cash flows will determine to a great extent their intention to invest in India, which is not an important market for them. As of now, Japan and US represent their highest volume markets. These are some of the recent facts/opinions about Mitsubishi. You can make your own judgement from them:

During April-Sep 07, their global production of cars and CVs totaled 679,260 units, 10.3% up on the same period in fiscal 2006. However, they are faced with declining production and sales in Japan, but higher figures in some markets such as in Russia, North America and the Middle East/Africa, and of the Outlander rose by 497.3 percent to 73,810 units to meet strong growth in demand in North America, Europe and China. Their financial position is bad inspite of improved sales. For first half (Apr-Sep 07), Mitsubishi Motors posted consolidated net sales of 1,313 billion yen, 30% increase. This was due to increased sales volumes in overseas markets, the start of supplies of SUVs to PSA Peugeot Citroen as well as favorable yen exchange rates. However, they posted a net loss of 5.6 billion yen, which represents an improvement over net loss of 10.5 billion yen in April-Sep 06. It has posted years of losses, but losses have declined because of focus on fresh designs.

Mitsubishi cars are not rated high in consumer surveys with respect to quality or reliability.

In Europe, Mitsubishi Motors launched the Lancer Sports Sedan at the IAA in Frankfurt in September. The 4600mm four-door sedan replaces the upper-medium Carisma. Mitsubishi expects a shorter hatchback version, the Lancer Sportback coming next summer, to be its best seller in Europe. The entire Lancer family, which also includes the high performance, four-wheel-drive Evolution 10 (which debuted in October at the Tokyo auto show) and a sporty model called RallyArt - was designed by the Mitsubishi Europe design center in Frankfurt. When the Lancer range is complete in late 2008, Mitsubishi expects to start selling 45,000 units a year in Europe. But that represents an increase from 14,755 Lancers sold in Europe during 2006. However, it is triving in Russia with expected sales of 100,000 sales in 2007. Their Russian dealer, Moscow South with 4,000 sales a year, is Mitsubishi's largest dealer worldwide.

In the US, recently, Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s top designer Akinori Nakanishi has acknowledged the thumbs-down reviews US dealers gave sketches of his remodeled 2009 Galant and Endeavor. Nakanishi said the dealers are not satisfied with the proposal. Nakanishi also said it is too late to overhaul the plans. The redesigned Outlander crossover and entry-level Lancer sedan have helped fuel a rebound in Mitsubishi's sales But US dealers have been unimpressed with sketches of the 2009 Galant sedan and Endeavor crossover. Those models basically only get new bumpers.

Lancer: The Lancer has been redesigned, and now comes a continuously variable transmission. The redesigned high-performance Lancer Evolution is the big news. The 10th-generation Evo will have a new 300-plus-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. A dual-clutch automated six-speed manual transmission will be offered, along with all-wheel drive.

Montero was killed in the US at the end of 2006 model year since Mitsubishi did not have the budget to meet US regulations and spending on promotions.

[Sparkie]

Well more than me buying the car or not I was expecting the thread to attract a little more attention on Mitsubishi's future .

@Vasudeva: Quite a bit of info you got there! Any sources?


And this brings me to another topic, of people simply ignoring resale value while buying a car. If you you make an estimate and are willing to sacrifice it, it's fine but I've seen many who simply say why think of selling a car before buying it so they buy the car without realising how another car might have been more economical in the long run, if that's what they are bothered about in the first place. So if you are not bothered about resale value, you might as well as not be bothered about the mileage your car gives because if you save up on the mileage bit you will eventually loose on resale. So why not bother about it? I know, many will tell me now that they are willing to sacrifice on that bit but then there are too many who don't even take it into equation. Especially in a case of a diesel car, if a comparative petrol car would have a better resale value, it might be an economically better option as it might compensate for the higher price of petrol.

I guess this topic would usually not be that relevant but when we are talking about a vehicle like the Cedia which is expected to have below average resale value, it suddenly becomes more important to think about it!

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Sparkie

Me: Is Mitsubishi's future in India uncertain?
SM: Last year Mitsubishi Heavy Industries helped Mitsubishi Motors to recover from it's bad state.

MHI is a very new company in India, I wonder how they helped MM to recover from whatever state they were in. AFAIK, Only a few months back MHI set up here in India.

[Sparkie]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

MHI is a very new company in India, I wonder how they helped MM to recover from whatever state they were in. AFAIK, Only a few months back MHI set up here in India.

The sales guy was talking about MHI Japan saving Mitsubishi Motors in Japan ! Anyway I was just posting it here for the information and to find out how much of it was true!

[aadix]

Originally Posted by hillram

Over here in Hyderabad..Sureka Auto service really sucks.I own a Mitsubishi Lancer and they are unable to service it properly with out any issues.I have written many times to the company and got redressal.
Thats the same reason im a bit hesistant to go for a Cedia and invest close to 10 lakhs.But i feel its an awesome car esp in Aussie Yellow !!!

is ur car still in the warranty period? i stopped giving my lancer to them even before my warranty got over.. plenty of good people outside to service the mitsu cars.. that said,they are trying to improve thier sales and all i guess.. with the new showroom at jubliee hills and all.. lets see how they fare up in the next few months..


btw the resale price of the lancer and pajero are quite good in hyd.. dunno abt the cedia thought..

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by Sparkie

@Vasudeva: Quite a bit of info you got there! Any sources?

Source: Mitsubishi Motors, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Consumer Reports, JATO Dynamics, Automotive News, Automotive News Europe.

[GSHA]

Feels good to get this message on Mitsubishi's plans for India.

True. They are struggling as of now, as far as sales figures go. But, they don't sell "junta" cars - at least, not until now. IMHO, All their cars / SUVs have a near cult status (like the Yamaha RX100 of 1980s).

I heard a similar story from "Southern Motors" Sales Rep (the same guy who delivered my Cedia earlier this year). Here is what he said: "Sir, if you hold on and complete your 3 year lease on this Cedia, then we will deliver you an EVO. Yes, Sir. We are discussing about launching the EVO in India!".

I was surprisied and, of course, skeptical. Maybe he meant the latest generation Lancer. But, whatever be it, Mitsubishi has not lost interest on the Indian market yet, at least.