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Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (in Japanese: 三菱自動車工業株式会社, in romaji: Mitsubishi Jidōsha Kōgyō Kabushiki Kaisha, in pinyin: Sanling Zidongche Gongye Zhushi Huishe) TYO: 7211 is a Japanese automobile company, manufacturing an extensive range of cars and trucks (see Fuso). Mitsubishis are manufactured globally and exported into most major markets, including the Far East, Europe, and the U.S.. Mitsubishi had been engaged in a long-term venture with Chrysler (now DaimlerChrysler), assembling a series of cars and trucks for Chrysler brands since the 1970s. Some Chrysler cars use Mitsubishi componentry, but have been gravitating toward more use of Mercedes-Benz componentry, which is considered superior. DaimlerChrysler recently announced that it was withdrawing all financial support and sold its shares in MMC. However, Mitsubishi will still be able to build the Dakota-based Raider and Chrysler will still use a Mitsubishi-based chassis for its Stratus/Sebring replacements. For many years, Mitsubishi did not sell in North America under its own brand. That began changing in the United States in 1982. Many of Mitsubishi's early exports bore Chrysler brands such as the Chrysler Valiant (in Australia), Dodge and Plymouth. In some countries, Colt was used as the marque. Beginning in 1989, the Eagle brand was used for some Mitsubishi products in the US. Mitsubishi has also exported car platform designs and manufacturing knowledge to Hyundai in South Korea and Proton in Malaysia. Mitsubishi has a long association with movie star Jackie Chan. Chan always uses Mitsubishi vehicles in his movies, and at one time owned 56 Mitsubishis. Mitsubishi has recently fallen on hard economic times. With the exception of the Lancer Evolution rally homologation car and Endeavor SUV, sales have dropped dramatically, especially in the critical U.S. 18–35 youth market the company once dominated. A key problem was an over-extension of easy credit to those young buyers, particularly with its "0-0-0" car loans. These enabled buyers to purchase a car with no deposit, zero payments and zero interest for a year - making it easy for them to hand back the keys after 12 months. These loans were liberally extended to consumers in the early 2000s. DaimlerChrysler has refused to buy more Mitsubishi stock than it already has, and the company is scrambling to develop more cars to both re-establish its position in the youth market and compete in the mainstream market against companies such as Toyota and Honda. In June 2004, Mitsubishi Motors admitted it had systematically covered up auto defects for 25 years. Among the 30 defects, four were first publicized in 2000. By 2004, the company was $9 billion debt, following a $1.9 billion loss in for the fiscal year to the end of March. The announcement was followed by a massive recall of more than half a million vehicles. For the first six months of fiscal 2005, between April and Sept 2004, the company suffered a net loss of more than 146 billion yen. In January 2005, there were rumors that Mitsubishi might withdraw altogether from the US car market. These rumors were unfounded, as demonstrated by the debut of a fourth-generation Eclipse. The car was well-received in the press and by the public, but the company's long-term future in the US remains to be seen. Mitsubishi's sales in the important US market dropped by more than 45 per cent between 2003 and 2004. However, the decline was arrested by June 2005. The president of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, is aiming for a return to profit during fiscal 2006 - to the end of March 2006. He is counting on increased sales of the Outlander and "i" minicars, the company's first new designs in 29 months, to help achieve that goal. Mitsubishi Motors expects to increase sales in the United States to 240,000 vehicles by 2009, due to a new range of products it is now starting to roll out. Osamu Masuko said he expects sales to rise to an expected 180,000 vehicles this year, up from just under 125,000 last year. Mitsubishi also returned to profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2006 after 11 consecutive quarters of losses. Later this year, Mitsubishi plans to introduce several new vehicles to the United States. This includes the Eclipse Spyder, Lancer, the Lancer Evolution X and Outlander sports utility vehicle (SUV). In July, 2004, Mitsubishi announced that it would immediately cancel the slow-selling Diamante, Lancer Sportback station wagon, Montero Sport, and the Montero in the US market, and would scale back purchase projections for the Mitsubishi/Hyundai/Chrysler Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance engines. In August 2004, Mitsubishi announced that it will not get a minivan developed in cooperation with DaimlerChrysler. Instead, Mitsubishi recieved a version of the Dodge Dakota pickup truck known as the Mitsubishi Raider, and will continue work with DCX on future small cars. Mitsubishi has also been active in OEM production of cars for Nissan, and announced in July 2005 a partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroën to manufacture an SUV. Mitsubishi has enjoyed remarkable growth in Russia. While Russia is still a developing market, Mitsubishi's sales are growing fast, with sales in 2005 sales expected to increase by more than 70%, driven in part by the introduction of the new Lancer. The compact Colt has also sold well in Germany and the UK, outselling similar products from competitors Honda and Toyota. Mitsubishi Motors stock prices, which had fallen to penny-stock levels in October 2004, rallied to a high of 260 yen by September 2005 and has stabilized between 225 and 250. While the Nikkei as a whole had increased during this period, MMC stock outperformed the market several times over. MMC reported YoY growth in all markets in September 2005. The Mitsubishi group of companies - or the Mitsubishi Group - is a large group (keiretsu) of independently operated Japanese companies which share the Mitsubishi brand name. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. 13.65% Mitsubishi Corporation 13.42% DaimlerChrysler AG 12.89% Phoenix Capital Partners I Co., Ltd. 7.05% Phoenix Capital Partners IV Co., Ltd. 5.64% The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. 4.79% Phoenix Capital Partners II Co., Ltd. 3.52% Japan Securities Finance Co., Ltd 2.85% Morgan Whitefriars Equity Derivative 2.22% J.P. Morgan Securities, Ltd. 1.40% Phoenix Capital Partners III Co., Ltd. 1.17% The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (Holder in Trust) 1.03% Source: http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/corporate/ir/stockinfo/e/index.html (As of 31 Mar 2005)THE HISTORY OF MITSUBISHI
MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION
HISTORY
Recovery from financial troubles
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