[Aditya]

Given the degraded state of the company’s product line in North America, it’s perhaps difficult now to imagine a time when Mitsubishi had the financial wherewithal to threaten Honda.

Even by the time of its performance heyday in the 1990s, Mitsubishi was a company with a long and rich tradition.

Mitsubishi’s shipbuilding arm built 22 examples of the Model A, a luxurious seven-seater sedan similar to the Fiat Tipo 3. It had a 2.8-liter four-cylinder engine good for 35 hp, and a top speed of 60 mph. Few were made because of the expense of hand-building each one, but Mitsubishi could boast Japan’s first series-production automobile.

The Central Japan division produced one of the stranger footnotes in Mitsubishi’s history when it struck a deal with Kaiser to build the Willys CJ Jeep in knock-down kit form. Mitsubishi Jeeps started being produced in 1953 and the company didn’t stop building them until 1998.

Mitsubishi president Tomio Kubo, an engineer who had designed several successful fighter aircraft during WWII, staked the company’s U.S. export strategy on an alliance with Chrysler. Fifteen percent of Mitsubishi Motor Company was sold to Chrysler, and Dodge began importing small, rebadged Mitsubishi models.

By 1980, Mitsubishi was producing a million cars annually.

Mitsubishi wanted to move into the U.S. market on its own terms, but it was limited by import quotas; any cars rebadged and sold by Chrysler ate into that quota. The solution was for both companies to form a partnership called Diamond-Star Motors, and together they broke ground on a new factory in Normal, Illinois. The factory would have a production capacity of 240,000 vehicles a year, and the first ones to roll off the line were a trio of near-identical small sports cars called the Eagle Talon, the Plymouth Laser, and the Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Martial arts action star Jackie Chan was introduced to western audiences with the first Cannonball movie, in which he was on a team driving a Subaru hatchback. However, in the Hong Kong films (and in Cannonball II), Chan was shown driving Mitsubishis. He had signed an endorsement deal with the company in the late 1970s, and Mitsubishi bankrolled many of his movies.

At the tail end of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Mitsubishi’s motorsport prowess was at its absolute peak. Finnish driver Tommi Mäkinen had won the company four WRC rally championships in a row, and Mitsubishi’s Dakar teams were equally dominant.

The early 2000s might have been a bright spot for Mitsubishi performance enthusiasts, but the company’s fortunes had already suffered a steep decline. In the Japanese home market, it was revealed that Mitsubishi had been covering up vehicle defects in an effort to avoid costly recalls. The scandal was as far-reaching and systematic as Volkswagen’s diesel emissions woes, and it directly impacted home market sales.

Problems began when Mitsubishi decided to take on the bigger companies instead of pursuing niche markets. Both Subaru and Mazda had clear brand identities, one outdoorsy, one fun-to-drive. Mitsubishi’s message to consumers wasn’t quite as obvious, and while Subaru and Mazda both held their own and managed to broach the mainstream, Mitsubishi faded.

Forget the Evos or niche JDM classics for a second. There is one group of diehard Mitsubishi enthusiasts out there that represent a potentially untapped market. You see them all over the West Coast, rolling up to the beach or the forest campsite in their diesel-powered Japanese imports. The Delica owners.

The alternative is to stay the course, and hope the current range of small-to-mid-size crossovers keeps Mitsubishi afloat for a while. However, Mitsubishi finds itself today in much the same position as Honda once did: financially troubled and needing a decisive hand on the helm. The ship is teetering in uncertain waters.

Source: Hagerty

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[Shreyfiesta]

Now, let me speak about the present condition of HM-Mitsubishi in India.

Till the recent past, Mitsubishi was widely regarded as one of the best car manufacturers of all time. They used to build tough, reliable, good-looking, and overall great cars that sold decently and had some truly excellent technology (for their time, of course). However, in the last few years, Mitsubishi has, to put it politely, fallen from grace globally.

Mitsubishi began its innings in India by entering into a joint venture with Hindustan Motors in 1997. Here, Mitsubishi agreed to provide technical assistance to HM to manufacture its products in India. The first product to roll out from the collaboration was the Lancer mid-size sedan in October 1998. Lancer was produced at HM's Thiruvallur factory and was sold through their sales network for a long time.

The product range was later expanded to Pajero, Montero, Lancer Cedia and Outlander. Out of these, Lancer and Pajero SFX were the models with which they gained popularity in the Indian car market. Pajero SFX was basically an updated version of the second-generation Pajero that was sold in the west before the Montero/Shogun was launched there. The model was already more than fifteen years old when introduced here, but was far superior than its competitors in terms of road presence and capabilities.

Some models like Pajero 3.2, Montero, Outlander and Lancer Evolution were brought directly from Japan as completely built units. Due to poor marketing strategies from Mitsubishi, Cedia, Montero and Outlander never did well in our market. On the other hand, the regular Lancer used to sell like hot cakes in 2000s but as time went by, its sales trended down. The traditional Pajero SFX also had decent sales until the arrival of Toyota Fortuner in 2009. Evo X also found no takers in India since it carried an expensive price tag.

With most of the car brands announcing their big plans of new launches every year, it’s easy to wonder if Mitsubishi Motors is still present in India. Prior to the release of BS6 emission norms, the last new car launch from Mitsubishi for India was that of the third-generation Outlander in June 2018. A news about Mitsubishi Motors planning to tie-up with a Jamshedpur-based company first broke out in June 2020. The deal involved the company taking over the reins from HM and directly coordinating with Mitsubishi Japan.

A tie-up with such a company was just to infuse fresh money flow into the system. Now, with that deal out of the picture, HM will either have to find a new partner or give up its business altogether. Most of the dealerships were closed down by end-2019. The last Mitsubishi sold in India was a Pajero Sport in January 2020. For existing customers, spare parts availability is not-so-good as HM doesn’t have enough funds to import them from Japan. HM's contract with Mitsubishi ended sometime in 2021, and now, the company couldn’t renew it.

[shancz]

My impression of Mitsubishi was through the Lancer SFXi, Eclipse, Pajero, Montero, Evo series till a very long time and hence a special place like many others.

But felt weird when I saw them selling the Mirage and being reduced to a cheap to buy maker with the Lancer EX retailing at 40-46000 AED(UAE) while a Corolla was around the 75000 mark.
The car was still a looker but it felt very soft, slow and unrefined.
This wasn't what I expected a Mitsubishi to drive like and honestly felt sad driving it.

Not informed enough to comment on the causes/future but wish them well, wherever they're destined to.

[sunikkat]

When I got Fiesta 1.6s in 2010, the other 2 cars in contention were Cedia Sports and Honda City Gen 3. City was rejected straight away after the test drive. Though Fiesta was a better handler, I was more interested in Cedia Sports for its bigger engine, better looks, space and other accessories the car came with. Unfortunately it was around 4 lakhs more than Fiesta and at that time it was a big money for me spend. Disappointed, I went with 1.6s.
Few weeks in to Fiesta, I totally forgot about Cedia - such was the fun I had in 1.6s. But then whenever I saw a yellow Cedia Sports my heart skipped a beat.