Mitsubishi changes
Mitsubishi Motors North America has made significant improvements to its warranty coverage and has plans to lower the prices of some of its cars, but so far these moves apply only to the U.S.
According to Sandy Defelice of Mitsubishi North America's Canadian arm, the warranty upgrade and the price restructuring are still under consideration for this country, that no decision either way has been made yet.
Essentially, both moves were undertaken to help Mitsubishi establish a position between the Japanese importers and the Korean firms who specialize in charging less for their products. Mitsubishi CEO Finbarr O'Neill says the LA-based firm may think it's as good as the top tier of car companies, but that it takes a while for the public perception to come to the same thinking.
So the Americans will get a better warranty and maybe some lower prices.
This is all being done because of the big dive Mitsubishi took in the U.S. market last year. Overall, the company dropped 25.6 percent in sales in 2003, the second biggest decrease in the industry. For December, the drop was even worse -- down 41.6 percent.
It's a little harder to tell how the company is doing in Canada, as it only got started in the middle of 2003, leaving no annual history to compare. But sales dropped 42.8 percent in December of 2003 from the previous year, and the Mississauga-based firm is a long way from its projected 30,000 annual sales volume here. In 2003, it got to only 14,122 units in Canada.
In the U.S. Mitsubishi buyers now get a limited warranty of 160,000 km or 10 years on the powertrain. Mitsubishi Motors also will retroactively apply the warranty to customers who have already purchased a 2004 product, as well as offer it to new customers. The warranty is applicable to original owners only, and of course not Canadians at all.
With the new warranty, O'Neill says, Mitsubishi owners in the U.S. ''can enjoy a worry-free ownership experience. Not only are our cars fun to drive, they are an exceptional value.''
As for those price adjustments in the U.S., O'Neill has already okayed a drop of US$500 on the compact Lancer (to US$13,600) and there'll be more to follow. ''One of the things we need to stand for is value,'' he says, '' and we should offer pricing that also offers value.''
These changes mark O'Neill's plan to increase the size of Mitsubishi's target market, since earlier advertising focused on young people which, he now believes, made older people tend to ignore the brand.