Mitsubishi pulling out of UK?

[Robt]

This just came up on Twitter. Maybe @Cowabunga knows more?

Mitsubishi has written to its UK dealers and informed them of its plans to withdraw from the UK and European markets.
According to reports in Automotive Management, Mitsubishi plans to retain as much of the 103-strong dealer network as possible, continuing to sell new vehicles until such time that they no longer meet European regulations. As many retailers as possible would then be retained as a parts and aftersales network.
No new models will be introduced, which means the next-generation Outlander PHEV has been killed off. However, the L200 has recently had a significant upgrade and should, therefore, survive for some time, alongside the Shogun Sport.
A spokesperson for Mitsubishi Motors in the UK told Professional Pickup and 4×4: “The Colt Car Company has just learned that Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has frozen the development and introduction of new models for Europe, including the UK. We will continue to sell the existing range of Mitsubishi vehicles and to provide full customer support in terms of service, repair, warranty, recalls, parts and accessories. We will provide updates when we know more.”

Hit hard by the downturn created by the coronavirus, Mitsubishi is taking the action to shore up its finances, exiting Europe to concentrate on its Asian business. Mitsubishi reported a first-quarter operating loss this year of 53.3 billion yen (£408m) after sales halved to 127,000 units. The firm expects a total loss for the year of 220bn yen (£1.623bn) and announced that it needs to reduce fixed costs by 20%. To save immediate cash, it will not pay a shareholders dividend.
The Cirencester-based Colt Car Company, which has imported Mitsubishi vehicles into the UK since 1974, told Automotive Management that the decision to withdraw would accelerate its plan to bring other emerging brands into the UK.
“In terms of the future for The Colt Car Group of Companies, we have already been looking at opportunities to bring additional new vehicle brands into the UK as a distributor and have already been in early dialogue with some alternative emerging market brands with an EV product strategy,” says the letter to dealers.
“Whilst the discussions are at an early stage, in light of today’s announcement we are focused on accelerating these opportunities with the goal of introducing additional brands to our business as quickly as possible.”
The CCC letter also stated that the importers “did not, at any point, anticipate receiving this news.”
Mitsubishi sales dropped in the UK by more than 23% last year, and are down a further 51.9% this year thanks to the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Despite that, Mitsubishi has managed to increase its market share slightly, to 0.77%
2020-07-27

 

[Manney]

I must read the below on facebook.

Mitsubishi UK car dealers informed of brand's 'unexpected' market withdrawal

Mitsubishi Motors in the UK has written to its UK franchised retail partners to inform them of the Japanese car manufacturer's plan to exit the UK and European new car markets.

www.am-online.com

 

[Cowabunga]

News to me. Quite a surprise actually. I was expecting Ssangyong to exit the market or even go bust before any others. Mitsubishi's losses are an eye-opener and obviously unsustainable, although only they can explain how reducing volume sales will help them out of the hole.
GM has already exited Europe and all right hand drive countries outside Europe altogether. Ford is in the process of stopping all conventional saloon and hatchback car production in most regions. Honda have a very small range of petrol and hybrid only cars left to sell. JLR are, on the quiet, in dire straights. Nissan isn't in a particularly healthy position.

Where will it end? Will Tesla take over the World as we know it? Can Toyota fight back? Is there a market for Aston Martin [another company in dire straights but which has always been on the edge of a precipice] SUV's in a crowded market for cars that start at £165,000 and way up from there with extras?

How are large-car companies like JLR, Aston Martin Lagonda, Ineos Grenadier [if it ever gets made], Rolls Royce, Bentley and other British manufacturers going to meet corporate CO2 fleet sales standards? They can only do this by trading carbon credits or offsetting by paying farmers to plant and maintain trees, which is a load of bullocks that they may well not be allowed to get away with.

 

[Michael S]

The CO2 stuff is having quite an effect on car manufacturers. The new Jimny is being withdrawn from sale because of EU emissions regulations averaged across models of the same manufacture which basically makes small efficient cars. I recently read that Alfa Romeo pay Tesla a huge wedge of cash every year to offset their own cars' CO2 emissions. Aston Martin have been in existence since the 1930s and only ever twice returned a profit - as good as farming?

 

[Badshot]

They're not pulling out just like that though , just no new models coming in.

Bit like the pesticides companies, too hard to meet the requirements of the EU, so very few new things being registered.

 

[PSQ]

Just thinking, it's only been 6 very long months since Mitsubishi sponsored George Monbiots half arsed vegan rant TV show: Apocalypse Cow.
I seem to remember many of us (myself included) wishing Mitsubishi's "sponsoring documentaries on 4" would disappear up their corporate 'fundament'...

 

[Robt]

They're not pulling out just like that though , just no new models coming in.

Bit like the pesticides companies, too hard to meet the requirements of the EU, so very few new things being registered.

Yes but the dealers can’t survive if they can’t sell new cars! Such a Massive shame for my fiends at close mitsi

 

[Martin Holden]

News to me. Quite a surprise actually. I was expecting Ssangyong to exit the market or even go bust before any others. Mitsubishi's losses are an eye-opener and obviously unsustainable, although only they can explain how reducing volume sales will help them out of the hole.
GM has already exited Europe and all right hand drive countries outside Europe altogether. Ford is in the process of stopping all conventional saloon and hatchback car production in most regions. Honda have a very small range of petrol and hybrid only cars left to sell. JLR are, on the quiet, in dire straights. Nissan isn't in a particularly healthy position.

Where will it end? Will Tesla take over the World as we know it? Can Toyota fight back? Is there a market for Aston Martin [another company in dire straights but which has always been on the edge of a precipice] SUV's in a crowded market for cars that start at £165,000 and way up from there with extras?

How are large-car companies like JLR, Aston Martin Lagonda, Ineos Grenadier [if it ever gets made], Rolls Royce, Bentley and other British manufacturers going to meet corporate CO2 fleet sales standards? They can only do this by trading carbon credits or offsetting by paying farmers to plant and maintain trees, which is a load of bullocks that they may well not be allowed to get away with.

Interesting! The Ssangyong importer is not that big a company and relatively minor turnover. Maybe with some backing from Korea they could make something of those MItsi’ dealers that are now looking for alternatives. Trouble is, there will likely be only 5 maybe 6 volume car groups left globally soon the way things are going, so the rest need to have good individual offerings or unique and attractive selling points. Bit like tractors and farm machinery actually!

 

[daveydiesel1]

Be more ranger appearing to replace the l200s

 

[manfromhill]

Be more ranger appearing to replace the l200s

Has to b said our local mart newest pickups are isuzus or hiluxes
On the subject of Mitsubishi we have a dealership nearby don’t see too many on the road and ones you do see tend to see the outlander asx and l200

 

[deleted user 837354]

I didn't think their Outlander or ASX were that good anyway?

I've been saying for ages that the European car industry is going to be mullered good and proper. EU regulations and now the bridge to fully electric cars is going to scalp many of them.

CO2 limits on fleets is nonsensical because no matter what they do if you have an engine it's going to produce CO2 no matter how hard you try but then EU rules are designed to protect German car manufacturers from American imports. Another example of the EU strangling European businesses by making them noncompetitive.

Aston Martin- best to be owned by a much wealthier parent or have a full order book and a steady build rate to protect your brand (Ferrari's business model).

 

[Cowabunga]

They're not pulling out just like that though , just no new models coming in.

Bit like the pesticides companies, too hard to meet the requirements of the EU, so very few new things being registered.

There's new tougher emission standards again from this Autumn, so I doubt that their diesel offerings will be updated. Be interesting to see whether that will include the L200.
This is the reason that both VW and Mercedes are ending V6 sales at the same time, although Merc are jacking their pickups in altogether, mainly because very few people were as daft as they thought they'd be an pay for the badge. I predicted this at launch, but Clive, for one, was adamant that they would sell well and were not aimed at me. Well apparently they missed nearly everyone that they did aim for.

Yes, there is no doubt that especially with diesels, but also for general safety and fuel economy reasons, many brands are struggling to justify the development costs of vehicles that are getting too expensive to sell at a profit in traditional volumes. On top of which is the inevitable change to alternative fuels, the cost of developing for must be eye-watering.

Companies and industries just cannot trade for a profit and many are going bust or scaling down before they go bust. It looks very like a recession to end all recessions is coming our way like the three men of the apocalypse galloping towards us, aided by a deadly virus.

 

[Still Farming]

What our makes may possibly follow suit?

 

[Cowabunga]

Interesting! The Ssangyong importer is not that big a company and relatively minor turnover. Maybe with some backing from Korea they could make something of those MItsi’ dealers that are now looking for alternatives. Trouble is, there will likely be only 5 maybe 6 volume car groups left globally soon the way things are going, so the rest need to have good individual offerings or unique and attractive selling points. Bit like tractors and farm machinery actually!

Total volume production of all Ssangyong models is way less than 100,000 units per annum as I understand it. That makes it a tiny bit player in South Korea, let alone on a world scale. It looks very likely that they are on borrowed time.

International Motors do not distribute Ssangyong as far as I know, but they did import Mitsubishi [or did have some association with Colt Cars at some point ] and they are actively looking for alternative or additional brands to their current ones. Those new brands are very likely to be Chinese, although in the current climate and with the Great Wall brand, we can only assume that such brands are 'here today gone tomorrow'.
The Colt Car Company, the UK distributors of Mitsubishi, is now wholly owned by Mitsubishi so unless the management buy it out, I doubt very much whether Mitsu is actually looking for alternative brands to distribute in the UK, as they seem to claim. There is, effectively, not much for the management to buy out since Mitsu are abandoning ship.

 

[Highland Mule]

From another place:

“
End of the Road ... It looks very much as though Mitsubishi Motors will be withdrawing from the UK and European car markets, putting the relevant franchised dealers in a very difficult position.

That puts the imminent introduction of the new Eclipse Cross plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and the next-generation Outlander PHEV into doubt too.

Part of the Renault Nissan Alliance, the word within the trade is that Mitsubishi might become the brand for America, Renault in Europe and Nissan in Asia.

This has nothing to do with the Covid19 pandemic which is raging across the world, and more to do with the motor industry's ongoing efforts worldwide to cut costs and improve efficiency across their manufacturing operations.

This won't be the last such move as all the automotive giants seek to streamline their business and follows on from the recent merger of Fiat Chrysler with Groupe PSA (Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall) which created the world's 4th largest automotive group.

Mitsubishi hasn't been active in rallying of late, but its record speaks for itself. With Andrew Cowan at the helm, the rally team won one Manufacturer's World Rally Championship title in 1998, were runners-up in 1996 and scored six 3rds. They also scored four Driver's titles with Tommi Makinen.

And as for the Lancer, it has become the 4WD clubman's choice throughout its successive 10 generations of the model.

And no more pickups!”

 

[Martin Holden]

Total volume production of all Ssangyong models is way less than 100,000 units per annum as I understand it. That makes it a tiny bit player in South Korea, let alone on a world scale. It looks very likely that they are on borrowed time.

International Motors do not distribute Ssangyong as far as I know, but they did import Mitsubishi [or did have some association with Colt Cars at some point ] and they are actively looking for alternative or additional brands to their current ones. Those new brands are very likely to be Chinese, although in the current climate and with the Great Wall brand, we can only assume that such brands are 'here today gone tomorrow'.
The Colt Car Company, the UK distributors of Mitsubishi, is now wholly owned by Mitsubishi so unless the management buy it out, I doubt very much whether Mitsu is actually looking for alternative brands to distribute in the UK, as they seem to claim. There is, effectively, not much for the management to buy out since Mitsu are abandoning ship.

Yeh, I know about the Colt Car Companysd it’s only 15 miles from me! Ssangyong have been bust before but not sure if it’s government owned now or Indian owned. Chinese products might be a tad difficult at the moment given current tensions. The cost of car production or should I say new model development costs are now prohibitive unless you can share platforms across the brands under one roof. This is where the smaller producers have a problem. Mitsubishi just never got into any volume here although in places like Denmark they took over like Toyota and other Japanese brands when British made cars started to disappear - and that’s another sad story!!! Where will it all end up? Even the great Ford have issues - in fact they all do so only the fittest will survive. Kia seems to be doing well over here. I ply the motoroways regularly and the numbers of Kias keep growing. If they can what can’t Ssangyong?

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Companies and industries just cannot trade for a profit and many are going bust or scaling down before they go bust. It looks very like a recession to end all recessions is coming our way like the three men of the apocalypse galloping towards us, aided by a deadly virus.

Speaking in my Chartered Environmentalist capacity, a good thing too! Far too many internal combustion engine vehicles around the world. Perhaps, just perhaps, national governments will start to actually DO something about emissions now:

- Completely (urgently) rewrite planning policies to reverse the americanisation of society where everybody had to travel every day to work and buy essentials.
- Make public transport cheap and convenient enough to be the transport of choice for 95% of society.
- Stop using GDP as the measure of success and instead adopt a metric which internalises all of the critically damaging "externalities" of the current economic model.

The social ground is shifting under our feet as evidenced by today's announcements about restricting the promotion of junk food and the wailing from the advertising and corporate food industries.

FWIW I've never rated Mitsubishi vehicles anyway (and, yes, I've driven a few). Their "Up to 147 mpg" claim for the Outlander PHEV is little short of fraud imho.

Good riddance.

 

[Cowabunga]

From another place:

“
End of the Road ... It looks very much as though Mitsubishi Motors will be withdrawing from the UK and European car markets, putting the relevant franchised dealers in a very difficult position.

That puts the imminent introduction of the new Eclipse Cross plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and the next-generation Outlander PHEV into doubt too.

Part of the Renault Nissan Alliance, the word within the trade is that Mitsubishi might become the brand for America, Renault in Europe and Nissan in Asia.

This has nothing to do with the Covid19 pandemic which is raging across the world, and more to do with the motor industry's ongoing efforts worldwide to cut costs and improve efficiency across their manufacturing operations.

This won't be the last such move as all the automotive giants seek to streamline their business and follows on from the recent merger of Fiat Chrysler with Groupe PSA (Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall) which created the world's 4th largest automotive group.

Mitsubishi hasn't been active in rallying of late, but its record speaks for itself. With Andrew Cowan at the helm, the rally team won one Manufacturer's World Rally Championship title in 1998, were runners-up in 1996 and scored six 3rds. They also scored four Driver's titles with Tommi Makinen.

And as for the Lancer, it has become the 4WD clubman's choice throughout its successive 10 generations of the model.

And no more pickups!”

Mitsubishi is pulling out of America and Canada also by some accounts. It apparently only has around 1% Market share in both regions, which surprises me because I see a good lot of their cars And trucks about in the UK.

 

[ACEngineering]

Mitsubishi is pulling out of America and Canada also by some accounts. It apparently only has around 1% Market share in both regions, which surprises me because I see a good lot of their cars And trucks about in the UK.

loads of Mitsubishi trucks around here due to Garage called "The Firs" they always seen to sell tons of shoguns and pick ups etc just about every Mitsubishi you see round here has a firs sticker on it!

 

[michael N123]

What are the other emerging brands ?