You know Mitsubishi has stopped taking things seriously when...

...one of their official job postings is written in Comic Sans.

My first hint was when they decided to stop selling their one car worth buying.

And that they stopped importing anything decent from the rest of their lines.

They never developed a diesel that could be used here in the states. That alone could have set them apart from the rest of the market and could have given the rolling coal boys something to think about.

When I saw the third-gen Eclipse.

No EVO, no longer relevant.

Idk. Mitsubishi could do something amusing. Take hyundai. They started out selling penalty boxes to anyone with a pulse. It worked, and now they're hyundai and kia, and making better cars than the japanese in most cases. All Mitsubishi sells is penalty boxes to anyone with a pulse. Every industry needs a bottom feeder. Its just mitsubishis turn.

It's pretty sad, and it gets even sadder when you think about that it's not 100% Mitsubishi's fault that they aren't doing well over here. The fact that they never had and still don't have a highly regarded luxury SUV/Crossover is what killed them here. They would be rolling in dough to develop and subsidise slower selling cool cars if they had an SUV cash cow like all the other imports have. But the Outlander has been a flop. Why? I'm not sure, I don't care for SUV's so I'll never know.

What I do know is this, Toyota has no less than 5 SUVS/Crossovers, Honda has 4, Mazda had 4 but are down to 3 now, And Nissan.. my beloved Nissan, the company that brought us the original Sentra SE-R, the NX2000, the Skyline, and the 240SX/Silvia, now has a whopping 6 SUV/Crossevers in it's stable. 6!! Plus 2 trucks. How many "sports cars" does Nissan have? Two, the slightly overpriced 370z and the current over the top, out of the hands of mere mortals Skyline.

The saddest part of it all is that it's not these companies faults, they are just selling what the public masses want, (well that and what gets them through CAFE loopholes). So I'm sad, I'm sad that America is letting us down with wanting giant 4x4 monstrosities that are the only things they can comfortably fit their 300lbs ass into and only get 20mpg. I'm sad that the average Joe or Jill doesn't care enough about their driving experience to notice that the SUV they are driving handles like crap, and isn't at all engaging to drive. I'm sad that CAFE rules make it so SUV's don't have to abide by the same rules a station wagon would, making it not worth Mazda's time and effort to bring a Mazda6 Wagon over here when despite it being the same size as a CX5, the wagon has to get 40mpg instead of 25mpg to abide by the rules.

When I got married to my first wife she had the worlds worst pickup truck. The Ford Explorer SportTrac. It did everything terrible. Ride quality was crap because it had a truck frame, it had a laughably short bed you couldn't even fit a dirt bike into, because it was also trying to be a 4 door SUV, it got 17mpg if you babied it because it weighed over 2 tons. And why did my ex-wife, my formerly single, living in a city, never hauled anything larger than a case of bottled water ex-wife think she needed this most heinous of vehicles? Because she "liked to sit up high" this was weird to me so I had to probe a little deeper. She said it made her feel "less important or just less than" other drivers if she was sitting down low in a car... How messed up is that? You're so worried what these strangers beside you in traffic in SUVs, that probably don't even know you exist, will think that because you drive something low to the ground you are less than them, and you care about that more than choosing a car that gets good mpg, or pollutes half as much, or actually handles decent.

Okay I think I've spouted enough for this morning. Pretty soon it won't matter how a car drives, because we won't be driving them, the computers will be, which will be good, I won't have to worry about getting ran into by Tony the texter. Cars that are actually fun to drive will be relegated to niche builders, and will only be for autocross, track, and hillclimb duties.

DPSM positions are a pretty good gig. It should come with a company car and decent pay. If you meet your numbers and keep your dealers in line, management usually leaves you alone.

logdog wrote: DPSM positions are a pretty good gig. It should come with a company car and decent pay. If you meet your numbers and keep your dealers in line, management usually leaves you alone.

What are Mitsubishi numbers? "Sell one, please?"

t25torx wrote: It's pretty sad, and it gets even sadder when you think about that it's not 100% Mitsubishi's fault that they aren't doing well over here. The fact that they never had and still don't have a highly regarded luxury SUV/Crossover is what killed them here. They would be rolling in dough to develop and subsidise slower selling cool cars if they had an SUV cash cow like all the other imports have. But the Outlander has been a flop. Why? I'm not sure, I don't care for SUV's so I'll never know. What I do know is this, Toyota has no less than 5 SUVS/Crossovers, Honda has 4, Mazda had 4 but are down to 3 now, And Nissan.. my beloved Nissan, the company that brought us the original Sentra SE-R, the NX2000, the Skyline, and the 240SX/Silvia, now has a whopping 6 SUV/Crossevers in it's stable. 6!! Plus 2 trucks. How many "sports cars" does Nissan have? Two, the slightly overpriced 370z and the current over the top, out of the hands of mere mortals Skyline. The saddest part of it all is that it's not these companies faults, they are just selling what the public masses want, (well that and what gets them through CAFE loopholes). So I'm sad, I'm sad that America is letting us down with wanting giant 4x4 monstrosities that are the only things they can comfortably fit their 300lbs ass into and only get 20mpg. I'm sad that the average Joe or Jill doesn't care enough about their driving experience to notice that the SUV they are driving handles like crap, and isn't at all engaging to drive. I'm sad that CAFE rules make it so SUV's don't have to abide by the same rules a station wagon would, making it not worth Mazda's time and effort to bring a Mazda6 Wagon over here when despite it being the same size as a CX5, the wagon has to get 40mpg instead of 25mpg to abide by the rules. When I got married to my first wife she had the worlds worst pickup truck. The Ford Explorer SportTrac. It did everything terrible. Ride quality was crap because it had a truck frame, it had a laughably short bed you couldn't even fit a dirt bike into, because it was also trying to be a 4 door SUV, it got 17mpg if you babied it because it weighed over 2 tons. And why did my ex-wife, my formerly single, living in a city, never hauled anything larger than a case of bottled water ex-wife think she needed this most heinous of vehicles? Because she "liked to sit up high" this was weird to me so I had to probe a little deeper. She said it made her feel "less important or just less than" other drivers if she was sitting down low in a car... How messed up is that? You're so worried what these strangers beside you in traffic in SUVs, that probably don't even know you exist, will think that because you drive something low to the ground you are less than them, and you care about that more than choosing a car that gets good mpg, or pollutes half as much, or actually handles decent. Okay I think I've spouted enough for this morning. Pretty soon it won't matter how a car drives, because we won't be driving them, the computers will be, which will be good, I won't have to worry about getting ran into by Tony the texter. Cars that are actually fun to drive will be relegated to niche builders, and will only be for autocross, track, and hillclimb duties.

Mrs. drainoil wants a Jeep, (Wrangler style) so she to can sit high, but also wants a convertible so this may be the ticket? But I'm sadly learning these Jeeps seem awfully expensive even well used.

Oh yeah this is about Mitsubishi. Do they offer anything worthwhile (pass cars) in the homeland that's not offered here in the states?

I never took Mitsubishi serious. I blame their fanbase. All I ever heard was how great Mitsubishis were while their own DSMs and Evos had been sitting on jackstands for 4-5 years because it blew up for the millionth time and they didn't want to work on it anymore. And how Mitsubishi was a much better brand than Subaru, while Subaru outsold them year after year

I've come to the theory that a lot of long-term Mitsubishi fans have actually come to hate/resent the brand, but they know that they talked too much crap about every other brand and overhyped Mitsu so hard, that if they sold off and switched to another brand, everyone would call them out on their bullE36 M3. So they put up a façade and carry on telling people how many races they are going to win when they finally get their Eclipse/Evo back together after it's been broke for the past 5 years.

/end rant.

Anyone holding out hope they redesign the lancer and bring back the evo when they do? Maybe a slick coupe on the platform and bring back the eclipse?

Me neither, but it would be interesting if they did.

Oh yeah, comic sans, no.

In reply to t25torx:

Well stated and a good read.

I checked out the new outlander and I can't believe they aren't selling like hot cakes. It's nice, fits the mold of the highlander and is considerably cheaper.

They've painted themselves into a corner but others have gotten out of this corner by waiting for the paint to dry then going back to work....they can too.

They only offer 5 cars. Small and medium CUVs, a glorified golf cart, an 8/9 year old compact car and a penalty box sub compact.

NickD wrote: I never took Mitsubishi serious. I blame their fanbase. All I ever heard was how great Mitsubishis were while their own DSMs and Evos had been sitting on jackstands for 4-5 years because it blew up for the millionth time and they didn't want to work on it anymore. And how Mitsubishi was a much better brand than Subaru, while Subaru outsold them year after year I've come to the theory that a lot of long-term Mitsubishi fans have actually come to hate/resent the brand, but they know that they talked too much crap about every other brand and overhyped Mitsu so hard, that if they sold off and switched to another brand, everyone would call them out on their bullE36 M3. So they put up a façade and carry on telling people how many races they are going to win when they finally get their Eclipse/Evo back together after it's been broke for the past 5 years. /end rant.

I don't hate/resent Mitsubishi as much as I am disappointed. Despite my user name, I never had any major driveline failure in an DSM or my Galant VR-4 in the many many years I played with them.

In reply to NickD:

I never took Mitsubishi serious. I blame their fanbase. All I ever heard was how great Mitsubishis were while their own DSMs and Evos had been sitting on jackstands for 4-5 years because it blew up for the millionth time and they didn't want to work on it anymore. And how Mitsubishi was a much better brand than Subaru, while Subaru outsold them year after year I've come to the theory that a lot of long-term Mitsubishi fans have actually come to hate/resent the brand, but they know that they talked too much crap about every other brand and overhyped Mitsu so hard, that if they sold off and switched to another brand, everyone would call them out on their bullE36 M3. So they put up a façade and carry on telling people how many races they are going to win when they finally get their Eclipse/Evo back together after it's been broke for the past 5 years. /end rant.

Being a long term Mitsubishi fan, and knowing a LOT of long term Mitsubishi fans, I'd have to say that your theory is seriously flawed. I know a good number of people who bought their DSM's new, who still have them. Those are not the cars that you will find on Craig's List. Many of them bought Evo's, which they also still own. The cars had their flaws, but most of the trouble was related to assembly or service issues, and easily and cheaply fixable. Sure, there are plenty of owners out there that seem like they are determined to break their cars. But double the HP, add a stiff clutch, and do 6000rpm clutch drops- what do you think is going to happen?

There is a lot of resentment toward Mitsubishi from the long term fans- but not because of the DSM's and the EVO's, but because they no longer make the DSM's and the EVO's. The 3G Eclipse did not go over well.

As for Mitsubishi Vs. Subaru- Both have their issues. But Mitsubishi's were relatively minor, and usually due to assembly line problems rather than engineering. Mitsubishi was constantly making changes and improving parts. Subaru just shrugged it's shoulders and continued to sell cars with the same known faults for years.

My wife's Montero Sport has been pretty solid. Was more than $10K less than the 4Runner, and is a body on frame truck, The paint is all burned up, but it still runs great and the air conditioning blows cold 16 years later. I keep expecting it to not pass smog but it has so far.

Will wrote: When I saw the third-gen Eclipse.

This. I was living 40-minutes from the DSM plant in Normal, had craved a GSX since the 1G was released, and owned a 2G for a while(until I severed my wrist 6-weeks after my daughter was born & need to trade it in on a econobox for work & reasonable family car), so when news tidbits of the 3G were being released I was glued to the screen - then it was announced they'd dropped the 4G63T, and then AWD...and then I saw one of the early(possibly pre-production) cars at someone's house in town and thought .

My brother is a graphic design major. He gets genuinely irritated when he sees anything with comic sans on it.

I know what font I'll be using when I make a birthday card for him

I'm in the "Mitsubishi started their decline with the 3rd gen Eclipse" camp myself, although I think the 4th generation Eclipse really drove the line off a cliff. I see plenty of 3rd gen Eclipses on the road still, and hardly any 4th gen. Changing the Eclipse to a heavy cruiser and dropping the 3000GT left Mitsubishi without a halo car for too long. It didn't help that the rest of their lineup was even more meh.

Mitsubishi got into the crossover game in a fairly reasonable timeframe, and I wouldn't blame North American consumers - they brought out their Outlander in 2001 in Japan and 2003 in the USA, so it looks like that sort of thing's going on in Japan too.

Their main problem seems to be that they don't seem to be giving customers a clear answer to "Why should I buy a Mitsubishi?" A lot of people look at a Mitsubishi lot and conclude they have nothing to offer but mediocrity. And Mitsubishi's didn't make things better by offering loans that targeted people with bad credit... since unfortunately they hit their target too well.

MadScientistMatt wrote: ... And Mitsubishi's didn't make things better by offering loans that targeted people with bad credit... since unfortunately they hit their target too well.

I really think that THAT was one of the last and major nails in the coffin. Most new car buyers don't want to be seen as buying the "bad credit car".

Bring back a solid 20k Montero/Raider Bring back a WRX (not STI) competitor Bring back the Galant VR4

What gets me about the current situation is how Mitsu is moving further into a niche market share while they move their product line mainstream.

I don't think Mitsu will out Corolla Toyota.

Storz wrote: Bring back a solid 20k Montero/Raider Bring back a WRX (not STI) competitor Bring back the Galant VR4

20K Montero will never happen. No money in it. Plus it will probably have valve stem seals made out of garbage again.

They had the Lancer Ralliart which was like the WRX version, dumbed down Evo. Just that nobody cares.

Why bring back the Galant VR-4? They brought 3000 over and while everybody told you it was cool, not many people bought one. (I did) If a new one came out it would be about 6 times less popular than a Taurus SHO and we all know how often we see those.