High-Quality Cars and SUVs Mean Mitsubishi's Long-Term Prospects are Positive
It's hard to imagine a worse time to enter a car company into a new well-established market, but such was the case when Mitsubishi started selling its broad line of cars and sport utility vehicles in Canada, September of 2002.
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| Mitsubishi couldn't have picked a harder time to break into the Canadian market. Mitsubishi Motors North America president and CEO Finbarr O'Neill (center) knows only too well the challenges the brand faces in Canada. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
It's not that the market is down, at least not that issue in particular, but more so that the competition has never been fiercer or more willing to give up profits to stimulate volume. Zero percent financing is now expected, at least at the domestic brands, while cash incentives, added value deals and standard extended warranties continue to lure buyers into showrooms.
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| Even though not available in Canada, cars like the EVO8 have helped increase youth interest in the brand. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
But Mitsubishi is a Japanese brand, a revered status due to the success of Honda, Toyota and more recently Nissan and Mazda. Japanese automakers, for the most part, experience fewer problems per hundred units sold according to surveys conducted by independent research firms J.D. Powers and Associates and Consumer Reports magazine. The cars tend to excel in their intended fields, with Toyota/Lexus usually benchmarking luxury and Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infiniti and Mitsubishi often rated higher for performance.
That performance image isn't lost on the youth market, a target customer of the previous executive team. Cars like the Lancer EVO8 (not yet available in Canada due to insurance company imposed government mandated 5 mph bumper standards, the highest standards in the world by the way, that do absolutely nothing to improve safety but nevertheless drive the price of Canadian cars up dramatically while limiting selection), considered one of the best handling cars in the world regardless of price, cause teens and young males in particular to tingle with unabashed excitement at the very mention. The tri-diamond brand experienced the same performance-enthusiast following with its previous generation(s) Eclipse - the new car is great looking but more boulevardier in comparison.