Beginning of the end of the Mirage?

[rohoGames]

Mitsu may or may not do well, I have no idea about that.

But one thing I strongly disagree with is the notion that the Mirage is now "too expensive for people looking for economy cars."

No, it just isn't- I literally bought one a month and a half ago and was thrilled with the price for pete's sake. I can't stress enough how the price for *everything* has gone up. Yes, five, or even two years ago an MSRP of 17-19k would be too high for a Mirage, but it isn't too high for a Mirage in 2023. Go to cars . com and see the prices of all new cars. You will find that the Mirage is one of the few, if only hatches/sedans you can get for under 20k. You'll find a few Rios or maybe the odd Versa sedan and that's IT. And those cars were competitive with the Mirage 10 years ago as well. If you want something truly *better,* at least when I've looked, you are really needing to start at 23k MSRP, and for budget shoppers (like I was), that extra 3-4 k matters... a lot!

Now a better argument might be that "there is a certain MSRP for a brand new car where people will just do used no matter what." But that amount is going to be flexible because as inflation goes up, so do wages (not nearly enough to offset the inflation, alas). I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence yet that the Mirage MSRP would be that threshold, given the prices of everything else now.

If the Mirage dies, it is probably a combination of factors, such as:
1. Government pressure to not make ICE cars.
2. North American customer tastes. Yep, in a marketplace, sometimes the things *we* like aren't liked by enough people, so those things die even if we love them. It sucks, but it is a reality (and it unrelated, to a degree, to price). I guess I could agree that an ultra low price might entice some of those people to the Mirage even if they didn't prefer it, but I'm skeptical this is actually true in large enough numbers to matter, given the ease of auto financing for most.
3. Business model choices by automakers. I'm not an economist but being in a family of entrepreneurs, I've noticed two models of business success that both work: selling tons of stuff for tiny profit or selling a limited amount of things for large profit. The Mirage very much depends on the former strategy, but it is clear that auto makers today prefer the latter strategy.

I think if Mitsubishi could make more mirages they would sell more- I think White Bear would have more of them. My local Mitsu dealer sold their Mirage inventory as fast as they got em' in (I was told each one lasted a few weeks). I think the sedans are actually less attractive to some (I prefer a hatch for various reasons) so I think the amount of those you see could just be the fact they sell slower. My Mitsu dealer has had the same 2023 G4 sitting in the showroom for some time.

[precisionxt]

I personally feel like Mitsubishi just doesn't care anymore and honestly that hurts to say. It's too easy to get on the Mitsubishi hate train with all this momentum and them not pushing back.

[rohoGames]

I personally feel like Mitsubishi just doesn't care anymore and honestly that hurts to say. It's too easy to get on the Mitsubishi hate train with all this momentum and them not pushing back.

Yeah, I will say it is hard to fathom their strategy currently. Kia/Hyundai seems quite happy to appeal to young drivers, and value shoppers, for instance. Mitsu's strategy seems to be "offer a tiny lineup and hope for the best."

[Mark]

Mitsu may or may not do well, I have no idea about that.

But one thing I strongly disagree with is the notion that the Mirage is now "too expensive for people looking for economy cars."

No, it just isn't- I literally bought one a month and a half ago and was thrilled with the price for pete's sake. I can't stress enough how the price for *everything* has gone up. Yes, five, or even two years ago an MSRP of 17-19k would be too high for a Mirage, but it isn't too high for a Mirage in 2023. Go to cars . com and see the prices of all new cars. You will find that the Mirage is one of the few, if only hatches/sedans you can get for under 20k. You'll find a few Rios or maybe the odd Versa sedan and that's IT. And those cars were competitive with the Mirage 10 years ago as well. If you want something truly *better,* at least when I've looked, you are really needing to start at 23k MSRP, and for budget shoppers (like I was), that extra 3-4 k matters... a lot!

Now a better argument might be that "there is a certain MSRP for a brand new car where people will just do used no matter what." But that amount is going to be flexible because as inflation goes up, so do wages (not nearly enough to offset the inflation, alas). I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence yet that the Mirage MSRP would be that threshold, given the prices of everything else now.

If the Mirage dies, it is probably a combination of factors, such as:
1. Government pressure to not make ICE cars.
2. North American customer tastes. Yep, in a marketplace, sometimes the things *we* like aren't liked by enough people, so those things die even if we love them. It sucks, but it is a reality (and it unrelated, to a degree, to price). I guess I could agree that an ultra low price might entice some of those people to the Mirage even if they didn't prefer it, but I'm skeptical this is actually true in large enough numbers to matter, given the ease of auto financing for most.
3. Business model choices by automakers. I'm not an economist but being in a family of entrepreneurs, I've noticed two models of business success that both work: selling tons of stuff for tiny profit or selling a limited amount of things for large profit. The Mirage very much depends on the former strategy, but it is clear that auto makers today prefer the latter strategy.

I think if Mitsubishi could make more mirages they would sell more- I think White Bear would have more of them. My local Mitsu dealer sold their Mirage inventory as fast as they got em' in (I was told each one lasted a few weeks). I think the sedans are actually less attractive to some (I prefer a hatch for various reasons) so I think the amount of those you see could just be the fact they sell slower. My Mitsu dealer has had the same 2023 G4 sitting in the showroom for some time.

When I became interested in the Mirage, White Bear typically had 60+ Mirages in stock. WB having 0 in April speaks volumes to me. Mitsubishi is not banking on Mirage sales. Compared to other new cars, a Mirage is cheaper. I don't argue that. I wouldn't call them affordable today, but nothing is affordable these days, including cheap economy cars.

[Fummins]

It's all relative. I'm having a hard time with the stupid inflated prices of everything. The other day someone sent me a link to what they considered was good deal on a trailer. I shot it down saying it was too expensive, cause it was. But compared to all the other overpriced junk out there it was probably a bargain. About 15 years ago I bought a 6x12 utility trailer for $1000 then about 9 years ago bought a 2011 16' car trailer for $1000 (and it wasn't even stolen). I sold them cause I never used them, needed money and got tired of paying for storage. I guess if I had held onto them and paid for storage over the last 6 years it would have cost me pretty close to what a new one costs today anyways so now I don't feel so bad for flogging them.
As for the Mirage future, I can see it being pulled from North America for the same reason it quit being sold in Australia.

[Mark]

It's all relative. I'm having a hard time with the stupid inflated prices of everything. The other day someone sent me a link to what they considered was good deal on a trailer. I shot it down saying it was too expensive, cause it was. But compared to all the other overpriced junk out there it was probably a bargain. About 15 years ago I bought a 6x12 utility trailer for $1000 then about 9 years ago bought a 2011 16' car trailer for $1000 (and it wasn't even stolen). I sold them cause I never used them, needed money and got tired of paying for storage. I guess if I had held onto them and paid for storage over the last 6 years it would have cost me pretty close to what a new one costs today anyways so now I don't feel so bad for flogging them.
As for the Mirage future, I can see it being pulled from North America for the same reason it quit being sold in Australia.

In my opinion, Australia was the indicator of what's ahead. The Mitsubishi Triton was very well received there (2nd best selling pickup truck), & they canned it. It's now a Nissan truck with a Mitsubishi label on it.

If the Triton couldn't maintain it's identity, nothing else will eventually. If you like Nissan products, life is good! I personally think Mitsubishi is going nowhere (slow death). I wish it weren't so!

[Fummins]

Will it become what Mercury was to Ford(or another Saturn,Pontiac,Oldsmobile,Asuna) just re-baged Nissan's then fizzled out because it didn't probably didn't make much financial sense.
I'm sure I'm just repeating what was already mentioned in this thread but reading is hard.

[Wallythacker]

If I weren't so lazy I'd look up what Mits Heavy Industries does for income. They make a well received small bizjet. They dabble in modern avionics and weaponry. I think carriers and Zeros are off the menu. Didn't I read the Mirage plant makes 400k cars a year? That's good volume but where do all the cars get sold?

[Mark]

Will it become what Mercury was to Ford(or another Saturn,Pontiac,Oldsmobile,Asuna) just re-baged Nissan's then fizzled out because it didn't probably didn't make much financial sense.
I'm sure I'm just repeating what was already mentioned in this thread but reading is hard.

I compare the Alliance to Hyundai & Kia merging together In that case, however, I don't feel either company had a strong heritage before the merger. 7milesout may have a better take on that, because he worked for them.

In the case of Mitsubishi, I feel Mitsubishi had some established heritage in North America. Although they were never a huge company here, they were well known for certain unique vehicles that had a somewhat cult following. It just seems like this merger is destroying all that, & I find that a bit depressing.

It's not just cars that this has happened, too. My two favorite chainsaw companies were Jonsered & Dolmar. Jonsered was bought out by the same company that owns Husqvarna and eventually Jonsered was phased out. More recently, Makita bought out Dolmar. As of last year, Makita has stopped all production of gas powered chainsaws, which were Dolmar chainsaws wrapped in a different color. Dolmar was the oldest gas powered chainsaw company, & now they are history!

As a kid if someone told me Allis-Chalmers or International Harvester would be bought or disappeared, I would have never believed it. Yet huge companies like these have gone under or have had major changes after mergers.

It's become a part of life. I really haven't seen anything promising coming from Mitsubishi in recent years. I'm sorry, but new bumpers slapped on a Mirage is not much of an update. Eclipse Cross has to be a disappointment for them, because the sales numbers have just never been there since its release. Outlander is basically a Nissan product, and the Outlander Sport will soon follow the same path. You can't even get excited about the possibility of the Triton coming here, because that's become a Frontier clone. I don't see a bright future Mitsubishi, but I still like my Mirage!