Mitsubishi Sports Car Production By Model : 1997-2014

In the final of the series, we look at sports cars. In this period there are three models to consider and none were produced beyond 2011. It is a class of car that has lost ground over the years. I don't know what the customers bought instead, but perhaps it was just the Sunday drive that has gone out of fashion.

The Eclipse was a compact model produced in 3-door hatchback and 2-door convertible configurations. It lasted a long time, from 1980 to 2011. It was also made for Chrysler, being sold under the brands Plymouth (until 1994) and Eagle (until 1998), the latter I have kept out of the data below.

The Eclipse was aimed at the North American market but also went to the Middle East and a few other markets. It was made in the US and 900,000 came down the assembly line, including those made for Chrysler.

The Eclipse model

The FTO was a Japan only compact 2-door coupé, which was eventually sold in limited numbers in a few right hand drive markets. It's life span was only from the year 1994 to 2000 and 36,500 were made, the majority of those in 1994. I think more should have been done with this model.

The Mitsubishi GTO or 3000 GT came as either a 2-door coupé or soft top (briefly) and was produced between 1990 and 2000. It was also sold as a Dodge but that ended in 1995. It was a touring sports car, built in Japan. Somewhere in the region of 80,000 were possibly made (excluding Dodge).

Summary: Sports cars are not about making money but to provide a halo model for the brand. It gives a positive sporty image that helps sales for other models, although difficult to quantify how beneficial in that regard. Despite any benefit these cars offered, Mitsubishi reached a point it had to vacate this segment due to financial constraints.

In the chart below, the extreme right column shows the percentage of total Mitsubishi car and LCV sales.

	Yr	Eclipse	FTO	GTO	Total	%
				3000GT
	97	66,000	1,960	5,496	73,456	5
	98	50,966	1,033	2,207	54,206	4
	99	54,340	616	2,355	57,311	4
	00	77,795	160	114	78,069	6
	01	70,565	-	-	70,565	6
	02	75,323	-	-	75,323	6
	03	25,974	-	-	25,974	2
	04	10,433	-	-	10,433	1
	05	37,399	-	-	37,399	3
	06	39,602	-	-	39,602	3
	07	24,333	-	-	24,333	2
	08	13,814	-	-	13,814	1
	09	2,278	-	-	2,278	0
	10	7,173	-	-	7,173	1
	11	4,956	-	-	4,956	0
	12	-	-	-	0	-
	13	-	-	-	0	-
	14	-	-	-	0	-

Data source: Mitsubishi Motors.

Links to the other articles in the series: Regular, Kei, SUV, MPV, LCV and Regional.

Mitsubishi LCV Production By Model : 1997-2014

Mitsubishi Motors may have lost its Fuso truck division but it retained its light commercial vehicles. As the extreme right column below shows, they have achieved - for the time here under consideration - roughly from 20-30% of all production for MMC. So let's look at each model:

The Triton (L200) pick-up truck is the largest within the LCV range, with about two thirds of total units made. Some may call it a compact pick-up but for me it's medium sized. I'm sure it must have been a vital profit earner for the company. It started production in 1978 and the 5th generation was introduced in 2015 (pictured below).

The Delica (L300) cargo van and mini bus has also been a popular LCV, especially in the Asia and Pacific region. It commenced being made in 1968 and the first three generations were both a tradition van style as well as a pick-up version. The current model is the 5th generation which has been around since 2007. Production is holding up well considering its age.

Mitsubishi also does the Colt T120SS mini pick-up, based on a Suzuki model and made in Indonesia. It is sold only in certain Asian markets. The Minicab (L100) was a Kei sized van from 1966 forward and it was also a mini pick-up too. It seems it was again just for the Asian region. Why production dipped for 2014 is strange, but I don't know much about these Asia only models. Finally the Town Box was a high roofed Kei van produced for 12 years but now discontinued. it was made for the Japanese market.

Yr	Triton	Delica	Colt -	Minicab	Town	Total	%
	L300	L300	T120	L100	- Box
97	109,323	109,861	18,669	79,325	-	317,178	22
98	89,401	80,035	1,913	71,839	2,261	245,449	18
99	92,284	54,922	3,433	70,367	18,037	239,043	18
00	119,719	61,172	6,768	62,770	10,394	260,823	19
01	107,933	41,869	10,416	56,245	9,601	226,064	19
02	122,616	44,279	15,268	45,899	4,949	233,011	18
03	117,696	41,861	17,568	72,125	5,561	254,811	21
04	146,877	47,850	22,704	68,197	4,262	289,890	27
05	158,063	45,089	18,192	67,179	4,143	292,666	25
06	169,820	46,494	5,372	65,251	3,357	290,294	24
07	189,037	67,206	10,944	57,318	10,105	334,610	25
08	162,178	48,955	12,201	52,106	8,241	283,681	27
09	111,336	49,953	9,744	48,206	3,892	223,131	26
10	163,342	61,860	19,392	52,134	3,086	299,814	28
11	173,463	64,258	26,225	60,926	2,542	327,414	32
12	209,160	62,212	31,473	61,350	-	364,195	32
13	164,527	66,249	33,746	48,655	-	313,177	25
14	171,005	55,916	29,184	1,042	-	257,147	20

Summary: LCV production is based around the Triton pick-up, the only model among these with any global reach. Mitsubishi is strong in Asia and that is where the emphasis has been for its LCV vehicles.

Data source: Mitsubishi Motors.

Italian Car Production (Brand) - 1951-60

I wish more associations were as open as ANFIA. It allows us to peer into the past and see how things were. From it we see the Italian car industry rising from the ashes of WWII. It's surprising how quickly things picked up from the wreckage wrought on Europe not many years earlier.

Fiat of course was the mainstay of the automotive industrial revival, accounting for 84% of the volume for this ten year period. Lancia started as the second brand but was passed by Alfa Romeo through the decade. Autobianchi was part owned by Fiat and made slightly pricier cars than the equivalent Fiat model. Innocenti just started in 1960 making BMC vehicles under licence.

Ferrari and Maserati were of a similar size and the latter just edged ahead by 1960. Iso made the Isetta Bubble Car although the figures her don't quite add up to me.

Over 2.8 million cars were made, Fiat making just over 2.5 million of them. Things were looking better as commerce got back to normal and and more people were able to consider buying a new car.

Yr	Fiat	Alfa	Lancia	Auto -	Inno-	Mas -	Ferr -	ISO	Other	Total
		Romeo		bianchi	centi	erati	ari
51	108,889	1,420	8,614	-	-	26	83	-	235	119,267
52	101,659	3,514	8,034	-	-	6	90	-	350	113,653
53	132,061	3,477	7,658	-	-	20	85	-	297	143,598
54	163,561	3,826	11,782	-	-	61	66	1,298	272	180,866
55	218,082	5,919	6,572	-	-	111	73	105	126	230,988
56	262,143	11,748	5,746	-	-	119	110	17	26	279,909
57	290,672	16,675	10,269	750	-	72	122	-	231	318,791
58	327,049	20,580	10,239	10,898	-	105	149	-	366	369,386
59	412,682	32,089	12,130	12,655	-	249	248	-	621	470,674
60	500,527	57,870	21,022	14,787	870	402	306	-	139	595,923
Av	251,733	15,712	10,207	9,773	870	117	133	473	266	282,306

Data source: ANFIA

Mitsubishi MPV Production By Model : 1997-2014

Allowing for the fact that Mitsubishi's small MPVs are under the Kei car category for this series, then these are the larger multi purpose vehicles. Often around the 10% of total Mitsubishi production, from 2005 they have been minimal in their contribution. I assume the volumes they sold in made a business case hard to justify.

The first up is the Freeca aka the Adventure among a host of other names. It is a compact 5-door model made for the Asian region so don't be concerned if it passed under your radar. Next up the Zinger, a name that makes me think of chicken burgers for some reason. Slightly larger than the Freeca, it was made in Taiwan and China for the Asian market also, This sort of vehicle sells well in Asia.

The Grandis was another similar sized vehicle, that replaced the long running Chariot (Space Wagon & Nimbus were other names). It was sold around the world and the production numbers show the positive effect of that. The Dion was yet another compact model which was made in modest numbers, the automotive equivalent of a belly flop in diving.

The Grandis model was quite successful

A mini MPV built in Europe for that region was the Space Star which was reasonably popular. Last but not least the RVR when it was an MPV in its earlier form. It was introduced in 1991 and lasted until 2002. It was also called a Space Runner and in addition was sold as a Dodge, Eagle and Plymouth.

On the chart, the numbers on the extreme right are the percentage of total MMC production volume for this type of vehicle.

	Freeca	Zinger	Grandis	Dion	Space	RVR	Total	%
	Advent		Chariot		- Star	Space R
97	-	4,914	59,448	-	-	22,861	87,223	6
98	6,308	16,008	88,251	-	13,305	13,976	137,848	10
99	11,622	14,653	63,010	15,282	58,383	20,333	183,283	14
00	27,645	17,044	26,734	30,977	30,116	4,028	136,544	10
01	12,490	13,531	19,098	9,699	44,908	1,416	101,142	8
02	17,411	12,537	27,862	5,696	46,824	241	110,571	8
03	11,271	11,800	52,316	1,881	40,807		118,075	10
04	11,538	11,359	55,286	2,697	24,315		105,195	10
05	6,701	12,479	50,988	1,797	-		71,965	6
06	4,560	4,791	25,636	-	-		34,987	3
07	6,033	6,682	23,962	-	-		36,677	3
08	4,570	3,515	11,186	-	-		19,271	2
09	5,986	6,574	10,053	-	-		22,613	3
10	7,390	6,588	7,606	-	-		21,584	2
11	6,712	5,531	1,510	-	-		13,753	1
12	6,062	5,382	1,304	-	-		12,748	1
13	7,154	4,907	475	-	-		12,536	1
14	6,237	5,021	-	-	-		11,258	1

Summary: The larger MPV within the Mitsubishi range has come in many forms over the years but seems to have run its course for the company. The numbers were not enough to justify the capital investment I would say.

Data source: Mitsubishi Motors.