2003 Mitsubishi Montero Sport Xls 4x4 on 2040-cars

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2014 Mitsubishi Outlander

A Good Start On Halting The Slide
We'd like to say that Mitsubishi has had a tough time of it lately, but "lately" isn't exactly the proper descriptor since the brand's troubles have slowly built over the past decade or so. It cut back on its marketing and it cut model lines while leaving what remained in the equivalent of a product cryo-freeze. Then there was the financial crash and replacement models that didn't possess the same edge we expected from the house of the triple diamond. There was the lack of a North American chairman to fight for market-specific initiatives, and hence, models that lacked some of the details that US customers desired and that could sway buying choices in close races. True, that's a battle with an overseas headquarters that you'll hear from the US reps for almost every foreign automaker, but as you pile on the obstacles they multiply exponentially, not additionally. Or there's this: For more than a year, while its competition has been trumpeting new product, Mitsubishi hasn't had any new models. Like, at all.
That changes with the arrival of the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander, an SUV that we're told will begin a new-product offensive over the next 18 months that - along with a much larger marketing budget - should begin to turn things around. This is the third generation of Mitsubishi's volume model, one that hasn't really been changed since it arrived in 2006 and wasn't just showing its age, but practically crowing about it.

Junkyard Gem: 2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder

When Chrysler and Mitsubishi partnered to establish the Diamond-Star Motors plant in Illinois, the first cars built at that facility were 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipses along with their Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser twins. The Eclipse went through four generations, with 2012 as the final model year. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of the very last Eclipses, found in a Denver car graveyard recently. This generation of Eclipse was built starting with the 2006 model year, and it was based on a platform shared with the Galant and Endeavor. It was substantially larger than the early Eclipses, scaling in at nearly 3,500 pounds. The Spyder convertible version of the fourth-gen Eclipse debuted in the United States as a 2007 model. Sales were never strong and became downright miserable by the end, with fewer than a thousand 2012 Eclipses (both coupes and convertibles) leaving showrooms. This car is a base-grade GS with automatic transmission, and its VIN indicates that it was built for fleet sale. This would have been a fun rental car, at least compared to the Dodge Nitros and Kia Rios that stocked rental fleets in the early 2010s. The engine is a 2.4-liter SOHC straight-four rated at 162 horsepower and 162 pound-feet. The MSRP was $27,999, or about $38,581 in 2024 dollars. 2012 was also the final year for the Galant in the United States, though that was the model year in which the i-MiEV went on sale here. For the 2018 model year, Mitsubishi revived the Eclipse name — sort of — for the Outlander-derived Eclipse Cross compact SUV, which is still being built to this day. Rare? Very. Valuable? No. You could get the Eclipse Spyder with a 650-watt sound system. Driven to thrill.

Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Masuko resigns due to health reasons

Osamu Masuko (Getty Images)   TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors said on Friday Osamu Masuko resigned as chairman due to health reasons and has handed over the role to CEO Takao Kato on a temporary basis. A veteran of the larger Mitsubishi conglomerate, Masuko joined the automaker in 2004 and became president in 2007. He oversaw the creation of the partnership between Mitsubishi and Nissan in 2016, which saw Nissan take a controlling stake in the company. The 71-year-old will stay on at Mitsubishi as a special adviser, the company said in a statement. It did not specify what Masuko was ailing from. Masuko was at the helm of Mitsubishi during a 2016 scandal in which the automaker was found to have overstated the fuel economy on its vehicles. An investigation uncovered slack governance and pressure on resourced-starved engineers as chronic issues at the company. CEO Takao Kato adds the role of chairman. (Getty Images)   The scandal was Mitsubishi's third in two decades, and it pummeled profits and tarnished the automaker' s brand. At the height of the scandal, Nissan lent its smaller rival a lifeline by offering the company $2.2 billion for a 34% controlling stake. The deal was agreed between Masuko and then Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, and brought Mitsubishi in as a junior partner in the Nissan-Renault automaking alliance. Masuko later denounced his ties with Ghosn following Ghosn's 2018 arrest in Japan over financial misconduct, charges that Ghosn has denied. All three members of the alliance are currently mired in financial problems after years of aggressive expansion policies under Ghosn's leadership resulted in falling vehicle sales. A further drop in global car demand due to the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated these problems, and Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault are each bracing for steep annual operating losses this year. Related Video: