Mitsubishi – Still A Contender

I once worked with a gentleman who said his wife worked at Colt Cars in England. I can recall saying "who the devil are they!” Which I suppose was a bit impolite but I thought I knew most car manufacturers and had never heard of them. Fortunately for me he ignored how rude I was and went on to explain that the aforementioned Colt Cars were in fact a joint venture with Mitsubishi, who I did know and was set up largely to import cars into the UK.

 

I had forgotten that Britain used to have strict import quotas on foreign vehicles in a vain attempt to protect British manufacturers from the threat to their market from foreign imports. It wasn’t until the British public realised that British cars were in fact useless that they started buying foreign cars by the thousand which spelled the end of the road for the majority of UK manufacturers, sad but true.

 

There was a small backlash from people of a certain generation against buying foreign cars particularly Japanese ones but when their Morris Maxi’s and Marinas finally rusted into oblivion they begrudgingly grasped the nettle and now wouldn’t be seen driving anything other than a Micra or Yaris or indeed a Mitsubishi Colt.

 

Mitsubishi have had mixed fortunes over the years with some successful models and of course you can’t really mention Mitsubishi without talking about their successes with the Ralliart division and the whole Evolution phenomenon. Aside from this though the history of Mitsubishi is quite complex and they have had business partnerships with companies you would not have expected, notably Volvo and Daimler Chrysler to name but two.

 

Mitsubishi Corporation is a huge concern in Japan of which Mitsubishi Motors are a subsidiary of and with a history that dates back as far as 1917. The logo of three red diamonds, which is shared with over forty other companies within the group, predates Mitsubishi Motors itself by nearly a century. It was chosen by Yataro Iwasaki who was the founder of Mitsubishi. Apparently this represented the badge of the Tosa Clan which had first employed him and his own family emblem was three diamonds. The name Mitsubishi is an amalgamation of Mitsu ("three") and Hishi (literally meaning "water chestnut", which is often used in Japanese to denote a diamond or rhombus).   

 

Mitsubishi are currently the seventh largest car manufacturer in Japan and seventeenth in the world which puts them as fairly large but not huge by any standards. The main problem for Mitsubishi was that there was a lack of models for the public to choose from, they have however in the last few years worked hard to improve their range of models.

 

After working with Chrysler since the 1970’s Mitsubishi were then involved with Daimler Chrysler until around 2005. I guess this was a little rude but I though I had heard of most car manufactures and I didn’t know these guys at all. The latest Mitsubishi Lancer received a good reception and Mitsubishi has also now joined up with Peugeot and Citroen to produce the 4007 and C-Crosser these will be sports utility vehicles based on the Outlander. The Outlander itself boasts favourable fuel economy combined with the lowest C02 emissions in its class.

 

The Shogun or Pajero whose name is rumoured to be rude in Spanish is another vehicle which has ensured Mitsubishi’s success over the years. The most recent incarnation is much more polished and is this is now aimed at the luxury sports utility vehicle market.

 

A lesser known fact about Mitsubishi is that Jackie Chan has had a long association with the company so with him on their side I guess they will always be a contender!