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Mitsubishi pondering $2B share sale?

Mitsubishi makes the brilliantly fast, wonderfully fun Lancer Evolution. Outside of that road-going rally car, the rest of the range is pretty poor - the new Outlander isn't bad, but the subcompact Mirage looks like might've been competitive five years ago, while the Galant and Lancer have suffered from serial neglect.
This hasn't just lead to rumors of Mitsu's death in America; the subsidiary of the massive Mitsubishi Group has been in trouble at home, too. It was bailed out by three other Mitsubishi Group companies - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation - between 2004 and 2005, according to Bloomberg. Now, it's attempting to extricate itself from "emergency mode," as analyst Koichi Sugimoto told the financial site, adding that "they're still in the very early stages of recovery."
As part of the bailout, Mitsubishi issued its three saviors billions of dollars of preferred shares, which don't have voting rights. The problem is, Mitsubishi hasn't issued dividend payments since 1998, and these stocks aren't exactly competing with Apple or Google, in terms of value. In other words, they're mostly worthless. With a public offering, Mitsubishi is expecting to raise 200 billion yen, or about $2 billion, in order to reduce the number of preferred shares. If all goes according to plan, it will wipe out preferred shares by March of 2014, or the end of fiscal year 2013.

2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport models with leather seats recalled over airbag fears

Mitsubishi is recalling 733 of its 2013 Outlander Sports that were fitted with leather seat covers due to problems with the seat-mounted airbags. Apparently, the wiring for the airbags may have been routed incorrectly when the seat covers were installed at the port.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bulletin, the issue only really crops up if owners adjust the height of the seats. Naturally, if the seat wiring is damaged, the airbag may not deploy in the event of a side impact.
The affected vehicles were all manufactured between July 20, 2012 and May 29, 2013. There have been no reported injuries or accidents due to this issue. Mitsubishi, meanwhile, will begin notifying owners, who will need to report to their local dealer for free inspections or repairs. Take a look below for the bulletin from NHTSA.

Mitsubishi reveals mid-term plans including redesigned pickup, SUV and new PHEVs

Struggling automaker Mitsubishi seems adamant that it will soldier on across the globe. Just last week, we told you how the brand would begin selling a pair of rebadged, Korean-built, Renault-Samsung sedans in the US market, and now comes an official statement from Mitsubishi about a mid-term business plan called "New Stage 2016."
As part of the plan, a number of products not sold in the US, like the Triton pickup, Pajero Sport SUV and Delica D:5 will be new or significantly updated, while we'll be seeing a second-generation Outlander Sport within the next few years. Some of these new or updated models may be previewed at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month. There will also be an increased focus on the brand's plug-in hybrid technology.
In fact, that technology will play a big role in Mitsubishi's revitalization, as it rolls out its own competitor to Honda's Earth Dreams and Mazda's Skyactiv technology, called @earth Technology (yes, seriously). It's unclear if @earth Technology will develop into an overarching philosophy like Mazda has done with Skyactiv, but with Mitsubishi pushing so hard with hybrids and EVs - part of its deal for those Renault-Samsung sedans was that it would develop EV tech with Nissan-Renault - if we did see an @earth Technology badge on a car, we'd wager that it'd be powered, to some degree, by electricity.