Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I didn't think they made anything outside of these three cars and the Lancer?

whoster

They make the Outlander, which...really is the tail-end of its class.

mmarshall

Yes, the Eclipse/Talon/Laser triplets of the 1990's were great sports-coupes, particularly from a performance point of view, particularly with the turbo and AWD options, but some people forget how poorly built they were. Most of them came from the notoriously poor Chrysler/Mitsubishi Diamond-Star plant at Normal, IL, one of the worst plants in the industry. That plant had everything from poor quality-control to sexual-harassment suits to racial-discrimination suits to you-name-it. I remember looking at a new Eclipse in the showroom in 1995 when the GS-T/GS-X models first debuted, and you could tell that they didn't keep the paint shop in the plant clean...the paint job was not only lacking in finish, but also applied over dirt/burrs that produced a lumpy, rough surface. There were a number of noticeable rattles and squeaks in the ones I test-drove, although their road performance, for the period, was excellent. I considered one myself, but saw that the Toyota Celica had far better quality despite lower performance, and ended up with a new Celica instead. A friend of mine bought a used Eclipse AWD GS-X model a few years later (against my recomendation), and I wasn't impressed with it.....a number of features on it were broken, loose, or did not operate properly.

Then, for the next-generation model in 2000, Mitsubishi made two big mistakes (neither of which the company ever truly admitted in public)....dropping the AWD and Turbo models. They tried to make it a more mainstream vehicle by using non-turbo 4 and V6 engines. This cost them a lot of sales, and the Eclipse has been in a downward spiral ever since. Its quality does not seem to have improved much in the meantime, either...the last Eclipse I reviewed (a Spyder convertible a couple of years ago) was not impressive in either the fit/finish or build-quality departments. So, I'm not surprised to see this car now on the virtual edge of being dumped.

stick

I like the look of the eclipse, just make it the awd turbo it used to be and it will sell like crazy!

mmarshall

Repost?

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...by-2013-a.html

Solo_D33A

IMO the best cars that they made are the 1-2gen eclipses, all vr4s, pajero, and evos, all in the 90s, all had major problems though...

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

lol I re-posted my threads (with slightly different info of course)

DustinV

The North American market isn't that vital to Mitsubishi. Their major markets are Japan and Asia, Australia (very popular down there), Europe and South America as well as Africa.

If they can't establish a solid foothold in North America, I think they should pull out and focus their resources and concentration on their other, more important markets.

lamar411

the only thing mitsubishi has going is the evo and the outlander.

mmarshall

I haven't reviewed the latest new Outlander, but found the former version unimpressive in a number or areas, including interior trim quality, overall build solidness, and road/driving manners. It seemed cheaply-done, and based on a strict development budget.

GS69

Mitsubishi to Kill Off Eclipse & Endeavor in August; Galant to Live On

We first heard back in January that Mitsubishi was planning to kill off the Eclipse, Endeavor and Galant by 2013. Now, however, AutoWeek is reporting that the euthanization timeline is a lot closer to summer, with only the Galant receiving a reprieve.

Mitsubishi North America CEO Yoichi Yokozawa has reportedly confirmed that the automaker will stop production on the Eclipse and Endeavor in August, but added that a determination on the Galant won't happen until later. The vehicles are currently being built in Mitsubishi's Illinois assembly plant, but the automaker is looking to make room for the Outlander Sport. Mitsubishi plans to make 50,000 copies per year of the crossover utility vehicle, with half the vehicles tabbed for export.

If you're looking to get your hands on one of the last Endeavor models, you'd better hurry, since Mitsubishi only has a 23-day supply of the outdated model. The Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder will probably take a while to peter out, though, as the automaker currently has a 180-day supply of the coupe and convertible. Either way, for tens of thousands of devotees, it's an ignominious end for a once-proud performance model.

spwolf

NA is vital for whoever wants to be doing good.

They just need better products. I am surpised it sells so good worldwide, i went to the showroom here in Europe and new/ish lineup is good (ASX, Outlander, Lancer, Colt) just the pricing is so-so... Colt is very expensive, Lancer is mid-expensive, but ASX is priced well and looks good, as long if you dont want too much equipment... base/ish models are cheap.

2002GGPIS3

Game over, RIP Mitsubishi ( In the Untied States anyway)

mmarshall

One of Mitsubishi's biggest problems in North America has been that notorious Diamond-Star plant in Normal, IL, which turns out not only Mitsubishi products but a number of mid-sized Chrysler/Dodge products as well. Most of the vehicles coming out of that plant have had, IMO, sub-par build quality and fit/finish, not just the Eclipse. The plant, over the years, has been plagued with sloppy quality-control, bad management, labor-management disputes, poorly-trained workers, racial strife, and even a sexual-harassment case (Mitsubishi paid out a big settlement on that one). In addition, though this affected Mitsubishi in Japan more so than in North America, several of the company's execs went to prison on buisness-ethics charges. You can't turn out quality products like that. In fact, I've seen new Eclipses come out of that plant with paint-jobs so poor and grainy that it looked and felt like they actually sprayed paint and primer on over dirt lumps on the sheet metal.

LexFather

Well a lot of us called it. Odd, didn't know they were made here.

Its sad really, especially to see a coupe bite the dust. Its amazing how strong they started with the Eclipse in the 1990s and just lost its way when it dropped the turbos and AWD....