{"id":232227,"date":"2022-09-23T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=232227"},"modified":"2022-09-23T05:00:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T09:00:03","slug":"mitsubishis-u-s-comeback-picking-up-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2022\/09\/mitsubishis-u-s-comeback-picking-up-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitsubishi\u2019s U.S. Comeback Picking Up Momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite rising interest rates and an uncertain supply chain, Mitsubishi is celebrating its 40th anniversary<\/a><\/u><\/strong> in the United States with rising sales, new products and plans to revive the Ralliart sub-brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Motors NA CEO Mark Chaffin says the company’s been reinventing itself to gain success in the U.S.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mark Chaffin, Mitsubishi Motor North America CEO, told TheDetroitBureau.com, \u201cWe needed to re-invent and evolve our brand in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitsubishi was sent reeling by the sub-prime loan disaster ahead of the Great Recession. The Japanese brand\u2019s sales sank \u2014 along with the rest of the auto industry\u2019s \u2014 during the recession, and its product line grew old, prompting speculation the brand might withdraw from the U.S. market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitsubishi set plans for recovery in place<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But Mitsubishi hung on to its place in the U.S., and its Japanese parent, battered by a scandal, partnered with Nissan on developing new vehicles and powertrains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaffin noted MMNA has now settled into its new headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, and moved to rebuild its dealer network. In the past year, Mitsubishi has added 150 dealerships, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing dealers invest in the brand again,\u201d he said, noting 58% of the dealers have upgraded their facilities. Part of the money also is going to a \u201cnew visual identify for the brand,\u201d Chaffin added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2023
The 2023 Outlander PHEV is the flagship of the rebounding brand.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

MMNA sales increased 16% in 2021, and jumped another 6% during the first half of 2022, making Mitsubishi the fastest growing mass-market brand in the U.S. market in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitsubishi also successfully launched the new 2022 Outlander, which is drawing in new customers despite being in short supply. \u201cOur sales volume would be even better if we could more vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is preparing for the launch of the 2023 Outlander PHEV this fall, which also will increase sales, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralliart revival planned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chaffin also said Mitsubishi is preparing to re-launch its Ralliart sub-brand in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralliart is Mitsubishi Motors’s iconic competition sub-brand, with a history in rallying and off-road racing in the world-famous Dakar Rally. It is returning to the U.S. in early calendar year 2023 with Outlander, Outlander PHEV, Eclipse Cross, Outlander Sport and Mirage receiving unique body effects, graphics and other rally-inspired touches, according to Cason Grover, MMNA director of product planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2023
Mitsubishi’s sales were up 16% in 2021 and are up another 6% this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

All models will be built in limited numbers and available in White Diamond paint with a contrasting black roof on Outlander, Outlander PHEV, Eclipse Cross, Outlander Sport and Mirage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are beginning to take notice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

MMNA placed second in rankings among mass-market automotive brands<\/a><\/u><\/strong> in the \u201c2022 Automotive Reputation Report\u201d from Reputation, an annual analysis of customer experience that includes 35,000 automotive OEM brands, dealer groups and dealerships across the United States, Canada and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second-place rank culminates a three-year rise that saw the brand climb from 17th among 19 mass-market automotive brands in 2020. Mitsubishi was the most improved brand in the study in 2021, posting a 58-point year-over-year improvement and ranking fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMitsubishi Motors is in the midst of a brand-wide moment, proven by exciting new vehicles, welcoming new and updated dealerships, and an absolute commitment to customer satisfaction. To see that work validated in the 2022 Reputation Auto Report rankings is exciting, to say the least, and is proof of the value of this hard work,\u201d said Chaffin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitsubishi is expanding its foothold in the U.S. market with a slew of updated offerings and a revival of its racing sub-brand. The company\u2019s celebrating 40 years in the U.S. as its sales rise year-over-year and its reputation continues to improve. Get details at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20009,"featured_media":232230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,1164,2648,1347,3332,9],"tags":[7951,7950,7952,2944,7953],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232227"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232227"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232237,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232227\/revisions\/232237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232227"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=232227"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=232227"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=232227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}