The North American launch of the Outlander plug-in hybrid is getting closer!
Via AutoBlog, they say that Mitsubishi expects to sell around 4,000 units in the first year.
Then, more recently, Don Swearingen, executive VP of Mitsubishi Motors North America said that their dealers are very interested in this vehicle. He went on to say that 10-20 percent of total Outlander sales in the USA would be a "very good number". Currently, Mitsubishi is selling around 2000 units each month, so that puts the PHEV sales at 100-200 each month, or 1200 to 2400 in the first year.
Sounds like they are pulling back their estimate, perhaps based on other offerings coming out in the near future?
Price will be announced sometime around August, with sales starting sometime closer to the end of the year.
Full article here:
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/04/01/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-late-summer-early-fall/
Via AutoBlog, they say that Mitsubishi expects to sell around 4,000 units in the first year.
Then, more recently, Don Swearingen, executive VP of Mitsubishi Motors North America said that their dealers are very interested in this vehicle. He went on to say that 10-20 percent of total Outlander sales in the USA would be a "very good number". Currently, Mitsubishi is selling around 2000 units each month, so that puts the PHEV sales at 100-200 each month, or 1200 to 2400 in the first year.
Sounds like they are pulling back their estimate, perhaps based on other offerings coming out in the near future?
Price will be announced sometime around August, with sales starting sometime closer to the end of the year.
As we've documented over the years, there were a number of reasons for why the US didn't get the first batch of Outlander PHEVs. One of the big ones was that the PHEV was selling like gangbusters elsewhere. It's the best-selling PHEV in all of Europe, for example, and was the fourth-best-selling plug-in vehicle anywhere in February 2016. And Mitsubishi just couldn't make enough of them. Swearingen said the main bottleneck for this was the battery pack supplier Lithium Energy Japan, which didn't have the capacity to make more than it did. So, instead of leaving three markets without enough supply, Mitsubishi decided to leave one in the lurch and focus on the other two. Plus, since the Outlander PHEV will be based on the 2017 gas-powered Outlander, it will come with numerous safety enhancements as well as the 100+ improvements that the 2016 Outlander got compared to the 2015. In other words, all the pieces are all coming together.
Full article here:
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/04/01/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-late-summer-early-fall/