PHEV production restarting

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There's a little more detail in this excerpt:

http://www.supplierbusiness.com/news/22647/-mitsubishi-resumes-domestic-production-of-outlander-plug-in-hybrid-

The site is restricted access, but there's enough readable in the headline area to get the gist of it. Most annoying to interested Americans will be this little tidbit:

Mitsubishi, which currently has nearly 18,000 back orders of the Outlander PHEV worldwide, said it will postpone shipments to the US for the time being and focus on meeting orders in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere because of limited battery availability.

While I knew that Mitsu had identified the battery problem, I'd assumed at the time that they resumed production shortly afterward - had no idea they'd been suspended until this week. While I appreciate the supply problems this causes worldwide, I still think it's a mistake to delay the NA rollout for so long. I can only guess they've assessed that GM doesn't have the Volt MPV5 in the pipeline and that Toyota has no plugin plans for the Highlander, so they have time to let the car build up some more real-world miles before bringing it to a market where it's a real do-or-die proposition for them.

There's a flip side to that, though - without the "halo effect" of the O-PHEV, MMNA's fortunes will likely continue to slide. How long can they withhold this boost from their ailing dealers and still expect to keep them all in the game?

Fortunately for my household, our '05 Prius is in fine shape and in no immediate need of replacement. We should have no problem holding off on shopping for its successor another 18-24 months, and (assuming MMNA can hold itself together) the O-PHEV had better make an appearance by then!
 
Honoring back orders in the order they received them is the decent and right thing to do, especially in the Netherlands where people will be paying thousands more in taxes if the car is delivered after Dec 31.

True, it's probably not the best thing for the bottom line of MitsUSA.

Looks like VW CrossBlue production decision is also being delayed, so at least that pressure is off.
 
I find it interesting that through this whole production shutdown time, there's been no indication that interest has been lost in the vehicle. What about the 15,000 or however many pre-orders Mitsubishi had already received from Norway and Japan before the shut down happened?
 
I concur... if Mitsubishi waits too long, someone is going to do an unexpected release of their own PHEV SUV... GM could sneak in a Volt SUV variant, Ford can slam a PHEV into the Escape, Toyota usually takes more time, so I doubt they will do anything so dramatic anytime soon... Honda has been all over the place. Either way, Mitsubishi needs this foothold in the North American continent, and needs it now, before they go the way of Isuzu.
 
@ Lindsay. There seems to be some confusion surrounding the quality that Mitsubishi is now planning to manufacture. Earlier reports said that they were upping the capacity to 4000 from 2000 in September which is the only way I figure they can possibly deliver 7000 to The Netherlands before the end of the year as well as fulfil all their other commitments. These recent reports indicate that they won’t be expanding production to 4000 per month until next May. I wonder if anybody on this forum knows which is correct.

@ Marta The Netherlands not Norway. There is a lot of interest in Norway but Mitsubishi only opened their order book in The Netherlands – last December – and nowhere else outside Japan as far as I know.

@ boyelectric. I believe that Mitsubishi can keep the Outlander PHEV production line at full capacity without even touching the USA market. According to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry Mitsubishi ranks 16th in the world. When you are not a major manufacturer like GM or Ford but a small scale manufacturer, like Land Rover, it’s more important to create a niche for yourself than to start worrying about what the big boys are doing.

Another problem in selling into the USA is its size! It’s a huge country no matter how you measure it. It’s much easier to selectively introduce a product into Europe because it is made up of more than 30 countries. Mitsubishi has started by only introducing the Outlander PHEV into The Netherlands, where until recently they were manufacturing the Outlander, and no other European country; and already they are drowning in orders. The Netherlands is a country that is similar in size to Florida.

You also need to take account of the litigation culture that exists in the USA. This makes the risk for non-American companies in introducing a new technology into the USA much higher than for other countries. Do you remember what happened to Audi many years ago?. When faced with the allure of a fat pay-out from a class action suit the number of confused and accident prone Audi drivers in the USA increased dramatically. The fact that nobody in the rest of the world driving an identical car ever experienced the same problems, which were never proved to exist, didn't count for one cent. Audi suffered a huge loss as a result of that manufactured hysteria.

It’s very dangerous for a non-American company to market their products in the USA. If I was Mitsubishi I would be steering well clear of selling the Outlander PHEV in the USA until I was 100% sure that there aren't any quirks, such as might result from column-mounted electrical regeneration controls, that give the USA class action lawyers a litigation opening. It only takes one zealous US lawyer to blow a small incident out of proportion and a company the size of Mitsubishi can find itself in financial trouble for a market that represents less than 10 per cent of their total business. I can just see the news story now.

“Class action suit against Mitsubishi.
Class action lawyers Scroojoo and Buggeroff filed a class action suit against Mitsubishi claiming that drivers were confused by the column mounted regeneration lever, believing it to be the gear shifter. They are requesting that all Outlander PHEV owners who have had or are planning to have an accident contact them so that they can learn about their unscrupulous ways for extorting money out of large corporations.”

I just did a bit of surfing.

Take a look at page 16 of this Mitsubishi 2013 financial report published last April.

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/content/dam/com/ir_en/pdf/financial/2013/130425-3.pdf

Do you see any mention of Mitsubishi selling the Outlander PHEV in the USA as one of their goals? I don’t.

Take a look at the market size of the USA as compared to other markets Mitsubishi is established in( Pages 3 & 7). The USA doesn't figure prominently does it?

And Mitsubishi isn't alone in giving the USA a wide birth. Take Renault as an example. They produce as many vehicles worldwide as Honda, their engines have powered the Formula One race cars for years but they don’t market their motor vehicles in the USA. Our family has been exclusively Renault for years. .. and when my American colleagues ask me why Renault don’t sell their cars in the USA, I answer, “probably because they are too smart to make a mistake like that” :)

I doubt very much if Mitsubishi rates having a foothold, for their PHEV in the North American continent, as a major objective in the short or near term.

Just my two cents.
 
@David, great response. Thanks for your comments on the litigation and lawyer processes in the US compared to other countries - I can see why it is beneficial for Mitsubishi to spend some time with the Outlander plug-in hybrid in other countries before bringing it over here.

Out of curiosity, what country are you in David?
 
Lindsay said:


Is it only me that is concerned about the last paragraph of the article above:

"Look for the Outlander PHEV to show next month at the 2013 International Indonesian Motor Show (IIMS), where the it is expected to sell for (cough) $100,000 USD!"

I thought this car was going to be priced around the £40,000 sterling mark for the top model. There is no way I would pay anything near $100,000 USD for it. Or is this just a Indonesian Motor Show scam?
 
apyds said:
Is it only me that is concerned about the last paragraph of the article above:

"Look for the Outlander PHEV to show next month at the 2013 International Indonesian Motor Show (IIMS), where the it is expected to sell for (cough) $100,000 USD!"

I thought this car was going to be priced around the £40,000 sterling mark for the top model. There is no way I would pay anything near $100,000 USD for it. Or is this just a Indonesian Motor Show scam?

I'm pretty sure they are referring to the price in Indonesia that will be near $100,000 USD - this isn't talking about the price of the Outlander PHEV in North America!
 
apyds said:
Lindsay said:


Is it only me that is concerned about the last paragraph of the article above:

"Look for the Outlander PHEV to show next month at the 2013 International Indonesian Motor Show (IIMS), where the it is expected to sell for (cough) $100,000 USD!"

I thought this car was going to be priced around the £40,000 sterling mark for the top model. There is no way I would pay anything near $100,000 USD for it. Or is this just a Indonesian Motor Show scam?

Prices in foreign countries have nothing to do with prices in the USA. Typically prices in the USA for cars is very low compared to most countries.

Indonesia in particular has high tariffs and is known for extremely expensive prices when it comes to cars.
 
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