Rebuilding from the Ground Up, Mitsubishi Puts on a Brave Face
Like so many things in life, the auto industry is cyclical. There are good times and bad, for the entire market as well as
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| Like our own personal lives, automakers experience good times and bad times. The new Galant (shown), is exactly the quality of product Mitsubishi needs to return to profitability. (Photo: Mitsubishi Motors North America) |
How cool was Cadillac or Chrysler a few years ago? Would rap stars have considered featuring the domestic brands' cars in their videos? Now the Cadillac Escalade and XLR are all the rage, with the new 300C the new sweetheart of product placement deals.
Not too long ago Nissan was languishing so poorly on the sales charts that naysayers were speculating its demise, while the automaker's Infiniti brand was doing even worse. Now Infiniti is the darling of premium brands thanks to a thorough rethink, and Nissan is one of the world's hottest brands. The same can be said
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| Mitsubishi is hoping they can turn their brand around, much like Cadillac and Chrysler have done in the past couple years. The Lancer Sportback (shown) is an exciting new addition perfectly timed to take advantage of the popularity of 5-doors, only marred by the lack of a manual transmission. (Photo: Mitsubishi Motors North America) |
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. would no doubt like to write a similar autobiography in three year's time, or sooner. Currently its not ailing when it comes to products, with its Lancer able to match the majority of compacts in a head-to-head battle, Outlander delivering more features and a nicer interior than most of its rivals, new Galant offering better performance, room and styling than the top midsize sedans, and Endeavor out-handling all SUVs in its class plus the benchmark of sport sedan benchmarks, the BMW 3-Series.