(Photo source: https://www.motoring.com.au/third-th...capacity-30494 )
On March 20, 2012, Mitsubishi officially launched the Mirage.
At that time, Thailand's Laem Chabang Factory #3 was the only facility making the car. (Today it's also assembled in the Philippines, for the local market.)
The press and public were invited to the unveiling, and the car officially went on sale in Thailand on March 28th:
Mirage production history factoids:
- December, 2010 - Factory #3 foundation stone laying ceremony
- March 2011 - Mitsu introduced the "Global Small" Mirage concept car at the Geneva auto show. (New Mirage based on 2011's Global Small concept car -- photos!)
- September, 2011 - Press shop started
- March, 2012 - Mirage production began
- April 19, 2012 - Mitsubishi announced that the line was at full production
- July 2012 - the car was being exported to Japan
- Februrary, 2013 - Attrage / G4 production began
- Aug. 27, 2013 - The first U.S. shipment of 1,074 Mitsubishi Mirage hatchbacks set sail
- Sept 10, 2013: First 2014 Mirages have arrived in Canada - available Sept 24th
- 2013 - 115,865 Mirages were produced
- Feb, 2014 - reached 200,000 units production milestone
- 2015 announced: Factory #3 production capacity increased from ~150,000 to 165,000
- 2018 global sales of 140,000 (CNET reported company comment)
- Nov 2019: 665,000+ Mirages sold globally (2012 to Nov 2019)
See also: Global launch timeline for Mirage / Space Star
How many Mirages/G4's have been built?
A ballpark number: 200k in the first 2 years, then assuming capacity of 150k/year @ 80% utilization for 4 more years, probably around 680,000. (Not counting Philippine production.)
Which makes me wonder: why didn't Mitsubishi note the 500,000th Mirage milestone, as they noted the 200k mark?
Do you think we could figure out Mirage production levels from the serial number on the newest cars?
What does the future hold?
The Mirage is now entering its 7th year of production. Will we see a 7th generation Mirage engineered and built by Mitsubishi, or a platform shared with Nissan/Renault?
Who knows! But we'll have fun following the news, all the while enjoying the current car.
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Related article from Top Gear Philippines: 25 images: A tour of the Mitsubishi Mirage factory in Thailand