The problems for Mitsubishi and its Dutch factory, NedCar, began with that common bogeyman, the Smart ForFour. At the end of ForFour production, there was no vehicle in the pipeline for Mitsubishi or then-partner DaimlerChrysler that could be built in the Dutch factory and put its 180,000 cars-per-year capacity to use. Now that the European economy is teetering on the edge of implosion, Mitsubishi is pulling its Colt and Outlander models from Born and putting the plant up for sale. The latest production figures report that NedCar is building just 50,000 cars per year, and since Mitsubishi has a factory under construction in Thailand, located closer to more robust emerging markets, it makes more sense to move where the food is. NedCar workers are naturally unhappy, with about 1,000 recently protesting the decision to move production.
The plant, which started life in the 1960s building both the DAF 44 and 55, was partly underwritten by the government of Holland to provide employment to a regional workforce that had lost a lot of jobs when the mines in Limburg closed. Volvo bought DAF and kept the plant busy with the 66 and 343 through the 1980s. Mitsubishi and the Dutch Government joined Volvo as joint stakeholders in the plant in 1991 as a way to keep it humming at capacity, since Volvo could only manage 120,000 cars per year on its own. Ten years later, Mitsubishi bought out the other two-thirds of the plant and now the Outlander and Colt are going to be out by December 2012.
You can pick up the NedCar facility for a mere dollar, but Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko will want to see your plan for the 1,500 workers before selling the factory so cheaply. All hope is not lost for the workforce just yet, there are rumors of a potential new owner looking to swoop in and start building a new car in the plant by 2015, creating about 800 jobs in the process. The logical money is on that automaker being Volvo, though Gothenburg has been mum so far.
The clever marketers at Mitsubishi managed to find five easy-to-complete Guinness world records and trumped them all with their family of Outlander vehicles. All in one day. Here are all of them in one video. I think we can trump some of these. More »
Smaller and lighter doesn't necessarily mean cheaper, though. While the Outlander Sport's starting price of $19,275 (*after destination charges) undercuts the Outlander's by about $3,500, it's not terribly difficult to option up a Sport beyond the $30,000 mark.
In fact, ticking off very available Outlander Sport option on Mitsubishi's Build & Price page will darn near double its base MSRP (none of those options is an engine upgrade, either - all Sports use the same 148-horsepower four-cylinder). Granted, a more realistic set of options still keeps the Outlander Sport well under $30k, but even that pricing seems remarkably close to the bigger, more powerful Outlander V6. Hat tip to Clayton!
UPDATE: Turns out you can't really option up the Outlander Sport to $38K in real life. Mitsubishi's online configurator isn't all that smart and will let you add individual options to the car that are already included in other option packages. Thus, if you check all the boxes like we did, you'll end paying twice for expensive items like the navigation system.
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport - Click above for high-res image gallery
Mitsubishi has had a very rough road the last few years. Its sales have fallen steadily since a peak year in 2002 when the brand pushed 354,111 units out the door. According to Automotive News, Osamu Masuko, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, says he is often asked if the Japanese automaker is ready to pull out of the U.S. market. "It never enters my mind," he says.
The company with the triple diamond logo has big plans and lofty goals for the near future. Currently, Mitsubishi moves around 50,000 vehicles per year and Masuko's personal goal is to push that figure to 200,000 vehicles - an increase of 400 percent. He believes the path to his goals is through new products and moderate incentives, both of which will help drive steady and sustainable growth.
The product lineup is shifting away from a past littered with larger sedans and SUVs. Mitsubishi is going to aim for smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles as well as all-electric vehicles such as the i-MiEV. In addition, it plans to move away from regional vehicles to develop consistent global platforms. Since the U.S. market only accounts for less than 10 percent of global sales, this sounds like a smart move, but smaller vehicles often bring smaller profit potential, so it will be interesting to see if Mitsu can thrive with this sort of a business plan.
Osamu Masuko's bottom line is that changes are coming, Mitsubishi is going to turn its ship around starting this year with new offerings like the Outlander Sport, and it remains committed to regaining its past success in the American market.
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It's Episode #194 of the Autoblog Podcast, and Chris, Sam and Dan talk about the 2011 Bentley Continental, what Lamborghini has in store for the Paris Motor Show, Mexico's Mastretta MXT and budget sports cars from Toyota. Two questions cap it at just over an hour this week. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #194 - Bentley Continental, Lamborghini teaser, Mexico's Mastretta and budget Toyota sports cars
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Click above for the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes, RSS or listen now!
Chris Shunk, Sam Abuelsamid, Chris Paukert and Dan Roth are the crew for Episode #187 of the Autoblog Podcast. We cover Lamborghini rumors, the new Ford Explorer's fuel economy with its rumored EcoBoost powertrain, the rumors swirling around the possibility that the Wall Street Journal printed an article that was a plant from Toyota, a sports car based on the Nissan Leaf, and the seemingly insatiable appetite for German premium cars. We hit your feedback and questions before throwing in the towel at the hour and a half mark. Thanks for listening, see you next time!
Autoblog Podcast #187 - Lamborghini rumors, Explorer economy, media plants, a sporty Leaf and premium Germans
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