Nissan's plan to take control of ailing Mitsubishi

General Discussion
101

I’ll bring it back to automobiles . . .

@Ed Frugal I don’t know about you, but I find the high-pitched voices of kids in general to literally be painful to my ears

Maybe some of you others will label me a grouch for saying that, but I’m not making it up

School bus driver would be a physically unpleasant experience for me, even if the kids were well behaved

I suggest you get at least a Class B stick shift air brakes CDL . . . I have no idea if the school buses in your county even have air brakes or stick shift, but it would give YOU more options at a later time

102

Looks like Nissan is set to expand,you have noticed they are getting into EVs rather seriously and daggone it, the things become more viable all the time.The trouble with EVs is that all that support you needed for ICEs will largely vanish(they even cut into the brake replacement market-not to mention the exhaust pipe industry) one large problem economic wise is that the auto related jobs had finally arrived at a decent wage scale.you want a steady good paying job now ,you had better get in the healthcare field.Less money in the economy after awhile the auto industry will feel the pinch .
Someone mentioned Park jobs,when I got back into the public I applied for a 7.25 an hour job at a state park after being selected and interviewed they gave it to some young kid (whom I think worked a week ) mind you that was in 2012,now they apparently have several openings at $11.00 an hour(part time no benefits of course ) The old commonwealth has never caught up with the times.

103

Here is the Mitsubishi media page about the Nissan deal. http://media.mitsubishicars.com/

104

The car business is evolving into the survival of the fittest worldwide. The forecast is for only 6 or 7 full line international players, like Toyota, GM, VW, Renault/Nissan, Honda, Daimler Benz, Hyundai, BMW, Fiat/Chrysler.

Then there will be a set of secondary or niche players like Mazda, Tata, Mitsubishi, Volvo, Citroen/Peugeot, etc. There future remain uncertain, but I hope Mazda survives as an independent.

What we are seeing here is the global; version of what happened in the USA after WW II. Nash, Hudson, Willys, Kaiser, Studebaker, Crossley, GM, Ford, and Chrysler finally consolidated into the “big three”. The Eisenhower administration even helped the process in order try to limit the original Big Three market share, but to no avail.

A friend of my wife was shopping for a fridge the other day. She was raised on a farm and they had quality appliances. She wondered where all those makes went; Westinghouse, Crossley, Philco-Ford, Admiral, RCA, International Harvester (yes), Norge, Kelvinator, etc. My explanation was the same; consolidation.

105

Good luck in the health care field. I know a couple docs that just got out and are glad of it. More reporting requirements, dwinding reimbursements, pressure from all sides to conform and economize.

106

Heads are beginning to roll at Mitsubishi…

According to the latest issue of Business Week, both the President and the Executive VP of Mitsubishi Motors have resigned, effective June 24th.

BW further states that, in addition to the mini-cars about whose gas mileage Mitsu is known to have lied, the company now says that nine other models “may not have been tested properly” (translation: Since we have been caught cheating, we might as well admit guilt on all counts, in an attempt to mitigate the penalties).

107

“Now that you’ve got me dead-to-rights, and I’m over the barrel, I might as well come clean” :trollface:

108

Better to resign than fall on the sword. Of course once deciding to go, it’s like “OK boys here’s the rest of the story. Have fun with it. Oh by the way we sold our stock already.” Ya think?

109

The one thing I find interesting is that I am seeing a Nissan Cube on the road all the time. I was reading and they sold like 1400 of these UGLY things last year. Did I mention these were UGLY? All I can say is that the Nissan dealer must do a good job of selling cars in my town as I see them all the time. Every other car on the road seems to be a Versa. I have seen the sales numbers on the Mirage and they are better than the Versa and most certainly the Cube and I don’t see them all that often here. I suspect that they sell better in areas with a dealer a little closer as well as maybe the coasts. Anyone have an opinion? I swear most of the Nissan cubes got sold in my town of like 25,000 people as I see them all the time. I see my Mirage, my GF’s, and I have seen another red one that looks just like mine but that is it.

110

I live in Los Angeles

It’s on the coast AND a big city . . . and I hardly see any Mitsubishi Mirages

Sorry if you don’t like that answer :tongue:

111

Lets see. One of these?

That must be the one with the non-symmetrical rear end. Big mistake in design in my book. The first rule is they need to be symmetrical or it’ll drive you nuts for some reason. Like the golden proportions design rule. Not pleasing but you can’t exactly explain why.

112

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/03/youre-not-just-seeing-things-mitsubishi-breaks-u-s-mirage-sales-record-february-2015/ The car sold more in one month than the Nissan Cube sold in one year and I see boatloads of that ugly thing. Either way, I agree that I am not seeing many. Maybe they sold to fleet operators. Who knows? Maybe the numbers are a “mirage”.

I do see many Outlander/Outlander Sports. The GF really likes the Outlander Sport as it looks like a supersized Mirage.

113

2014 was the last model year for the Nissan Cube on Yankee soil so the sale figures for 2015 were leftover inventory.

Mitsubishi is no stranger to leftover inventory, they recently offered a 20% discount on leftover 2015 model year vehicles.

Fad vehicles like the Cube, Scion XB and Kia Soul have be successful but a some time vehicles like this are put to rest.

114

I have no dog in this race and I really have nothing to add except that unit sales are one thing but income from these sales is quite another. So 5000 cars at $10,000 is a lot less than 5000 cars at $15 or $20,000. The chicken farmer story comes to mind again where they lost money selling 5000 chickens at $1 when it cost them $1.50 each. The answer was to increase production to 10,000 chickens for the next year.

115

That sounds like a good plan, perhaps Mitsubishi will change the name from Mirage to “Chicken”.

116

Generally in the smaller towns ,whatever the local dealers sell will be in prevalence(been my experience anyway ) I have to agree on the golden proportion design school ,some things just look better when in proportion .

117

Yes, I have noticed that too. We have a Nissan and a Kia dealer and you see tons of both as well as the domestics which all have a dealer here.

I am not sure what Mitsubishi makes itself but obviously the dealers don’t make a lot selling these cars. I can’t see them losing money but you never know.

In my business I always get hagglers wanting me to work for a lower price than I normally bill. I tell them there is no way I will do work for them and lose money doing the job in the process. Some are OK with this while others are not. I have found that if you give an inch, these people will try to take a mile so just aren’t worth dealing with.

I know others drop prices to move inventory. For example, a big box store after Christmas will sell leftover Christmas lights and decorations for a tiny fraction of the original price. This stuff is taking up valuable space that could be replaced with another product that would sell and make a profit. I am sure some of this goes on in the car industry but don’t know if they lost money or not on the 2015 Mirage blowout sale. Anyone have hard numbers?

118

Gotta love the image distortion software. That Cube distortion is great.

119

Yes, it makes it an actual “cube”. That was an ugly car like the Aztec. There are still a few of those around here too. One lives along the highway on the way to may place. It is bright yellow and really stands out. Then the local radio station has one. This is probably actually a good idea as it stands out and attracts attention like a sore thumb!

120

I’m no fan of the Nissan Cube . . . but I consider the Aztec to be uglier