There is considerable speculation on the automotive grapevine about the future of Mitsubishi Motors in Canada, but the LA-based importer of Japanese cars says it's definitely coming this time.
A few years ago, Mitsubishi announced it was going to set up shop in Canada and went to a lot of trouble and expense to do just that. Then they pulled the plug shortly before they were due to arrive.
So when the new management at the LA firm stated their intentions a second time, people were dubious.
But the Canadian who runs the North America operation, Pierre Gagnon, made a considerably more cogent case for the company's chances while making it clear that he and other other Canadians in senior positions there saw this as a personal challenge. The prodigal kids returning home, and all that.
Plans were made and a timetable established. Then Mitsubishi said things were actually going better than planned and so they were speeding up the process, meaning we would see working dealerships this fall rather than next winter.
In the months that followed that proclamation, word started to percolate that the company was having a lot of trouble finding creditable dealers, that the dealers they did have lined up were unhappy with the way they were being treated, and that different market forces were now in play that weren't so favorable.