Executing the plan directly involves Canadian consumers, who will undoubtedly find the story of the four prodigal auto executives interesting and maybe even prideful, but not moving enough to make them buy a car they don't want from a company they don't know. And it's not as if Mitsubishi will offer anything in the next five or six years that won't also be available from another manufacturer or nine.
Gagnon understands and acknowledges all this, but he quietly adds that the move of Mitsubishi into Canada "is good for the Canadian consumer and we know how to do this."
Mitsubishi's immediate advance to consumers will be to offer them vehicles they want, rather than vehicles they need. "Spirited cars for spirited people," Gagnon likes to say, or "cool cars for cool people."
Trying to market cars that people want rather than need is a common goal of auto companies, but very few are able to break out of the dreaded appliance status consumers bestow upon them. Mitsubishi's primary strength in overcoming this is that they are an unknown quantity, which appeals to people who want something different and also gives the company a chance to create an image from scratch.
Gagnon and his people have already decided to spend most of the $350 million they're going to invest in the Canadian launch over the next five years on marketing and salaries and keep the capital costs down as much as possible. Which means Canada won't have a high profile building or a big Canada-based team. It will be a region run out of the U.S., which is the way VW already operates.