mmarshall

I wasn't with CL 11 years ago when the Turbo and AWD models were dropped, but, even then, Eclipse/Talon enthusiasts were b**ching about the new 3Gen 2001 model. And the Mitsubishi reps/execs simply turned a deaf ear.....they wanted to make the vehicle a mainstream sports-coupe, appealing to a wider audience. Well, look what happened.

Some American plants can turn out Japanese-badged vehicles of similiar (or even higher quality) than equivalent models in Japan, but not the Mitsubuishi/Chrysler plant at Normal. The Nissan/Infiniti plant at Canton, MS, of course, also had problems....but it hasn't been in operation as long.



I primarily blame the company's execs. They tried to shift the 2Gen Turbo and AWD Eclipse's former market to the 4-door Evo sedan (and, of course, succeeded to an extent). But, in succeeding, they thought they would make the Eclipse a more adult and mainstream sport-coupe. That just didn't happen....and the relatively poor build-quality (by today's standards) at the Normal plant didn't help any. The Evo is built in Japan, and avoided some of the Eclipse's assembly-problems.

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iTrader: (17)

What is Mitsubishi all about as an entity? I'm really confused at the direction they are headed...

mmarshall

We know that the Evo has a dedicated owner-base, if not a huge one. But one of the big questions, now, will be what happens to the Outlander. It's a decent, but not terribly impressive, small car-based SUV, well-built and with a good Consumer Reports reliability record for past models. But it is boring to drive, runs completely like an appliance, doesn't sell in particularly large numbers, and, unlike the Evo, doesn't have a hard-core group of fans to make noise for it.

LexFather

I thought they recently said the EVO would also change or be dropped for more efficiency or something....I mean the current EVO is 35k and hits 40k easy, which most people are avoiding, even if its an all time performance bargain.

mmarshall

The last time I talked to any Mitsu reps (a few weeks ago, at my own Subaru/VW/Mitsubishi dealership) they said that the Endeavor's demise was a done deal, the Galant was questionable, but that the Evo would live on. You may have more recent info than I do, though.....for example, those Mitsu reps didn't mention the Eclipse, but we see here that it's done in the U.S.

This is not necessarily fact (just my own opinion), but I'm not sure that Mitsubishi will still be in the American market at all a year from now.....on that, I agree with some of the other posters here. I would not be surprised one bit if, despite the Evo's vocal fan-boy base, they packed up and followed Isuzu out the door.