Expecting to Rebound, Mitsubishi Unveils New Outlander

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. executives express a commitment to the North American market, despite major volume losses over the last 16 months.

Speaking at the introduction here of the next-generation Outlander midsize cross/utility vehicle, Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. CEO Shin Kurihara tells journalists the auto maker plans to emerge from its malaise “a stronger, more relevant company.”

Mitsubishi sales plunged 48.9% to 13,834 units through the year's first quarter, from year-ago's 27,081, according to Ward's data, while market share dropped two-tenths of a point to 0.8%. Total deliveries in 2008 tumbled 24.6% to 97,257 units, from 128,993 in 2007.

Mitsubishi says the Outlander Prototype unveiled at the show, “provides strong directional clues” of the redesigned CUV, which starts production in October and goes on sale in November.