Mazda / Mitsubishi US Model Sales : 2023/24

Two M brands from Japan share this page together. That's about the only connection they have though. Mazda is the larger of the two here and has a more comprehensive range. However, both Mazda and Mitsubishi are smaller mainstream companies.

Mazda: Sales in the US are up a decent 17%. The leading model (CX-5) is down 13% but that is more than compensated by other models. The CX-30 is up 25% and the CX-50 by 83%. The CX-90 is replacing the CX-9. SUVs dominate the range.

For cars, the 3 is the only regular passenger car, sold as a sedan and hatchback. It enjoyed a 27% hike in sales. The MX-5 was down 10%. 

Mitsubishi: A small range of models and modest volume characterise the brand in the US as is the case in many other markets. The Mirage is the sole passenger car and it had a strong 125% increase in sales. It has few competitors in the US.

However, it's the Outlander that is the backbone of the range with 48% of all sales. The Outlander Sport is known as the ASX in other markets such as here in New Zealand. It and the Eclipse Cross are small for US tastes so sell in subdued numbers. 

Data and pictures: Mazda and Mitsubishi. 

Mitsubishi Model Sales Japan : 2021-22

Mitsubishi's share went from 1.9 to 2.4% of the market. That is quite a hike in one year although from a low base point. Regular car sales were the reason for the gain as Kei car sales slipped slightly, despite a new model being added. It now stands at just 39%, down from 50%. 

Key Models: The Eclipse Cross had a striking gain in sales, up to nearly 21,000 units. That scarcely raises a ripple in the Japanese market but at least it's up. The Delica D5 MPV (picture at the top) comes next at nearly 17,000 registrations. 

The eK range looks suspiciously similar to each other but I've kept them apart in case there is more variance than I am aware of. The new eK Cross (picture below) seemed to take sales off the other eK variants. The electric eK Cross accounted for 4.175 (half) of its sales.  

Summary: Now under the Nissan umbrella, one should see a stronger and fresher line up of cars emerging in due course. They have had a longer than average model cycle and presumably that will improve in future. 

The minus figure for 2021 'Others' is due to the source of the total figure and the individual models are not the same. The total figure came first so perhaps the model figure is an audited one and more accurate. 

Honda & Mitusbishi European Market Share : 2006-2023

The European car market is competitive and crowded with many brands. Japanese brands arrived many years ago and had reasonable success but it seemed to plateau. Now there are challenges regarding the  accelerated move to electric cars, something Japanese brands initially embraced then stalled on. Chinese brands are now entering Europe with electric cars as their forte.  

Where does all this leave Japanese brands now and in the near future? Some like Toyota and Nissan have manufacturing facilities there and are committed. Smaller players like Honda and Mitsubishi have manufactured in Europe but no longer. 

Of the two, Honda was the bigger player in Europe, but its market share has been falling fairly consistently since 2007. Honda's position in Europe is now marginal and apart from simply retaining a presence it's hard to know why the company would stay in the region. Time will tell where Honda will go from here. 

Mitsubishi has been more even but recently having noticeably fallen with few models on offer and leaving some markets entirely. Mitsubishi may leverage some of Renault's vehicles and production facilities to reinvigorate its European operation. Again, we will see.

Please note: The 2023 percentage figures are for the first three months.

Mitsubishi Model Sales Japan : 2020-21

Mitsubishi has some overseas markets it does very well in but in a domestic market with many brands, it doesn't do well at all. The only good thing is that sales were up 12.8% but the total was down 3.5%. That's an increase of share going up from 1.6 to 1.9%. 

In the chart below the model data is from a different source than the total figure. This year the difference was more than usual, 882 units. It's only 1.3% of the 69,000 registrations and we can still see a clear picture. 

The Kei range is the two eKs and the Town box. Half of its domestic sales are Kei category. As for models supplied by others, the Delica D2 and Town Box come from Suzuki. 

The top two selling models are both eK, the eK Space (top picture) a crossover MPV (17,900 sales) and the eK hatchback (above - 16,200 sales). They are both shared with Nissan but made by Mitsubishi. The D5 MPV (left) accounted for nearly 15,000 registrations.  

Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi & Lexus Top Selling Models (in Japan) : 2020

This is a series looking at all Japanese branded models that exceed 7,000 sales considered brand by brand and this is #4. There are many strong selling domestic models in Japan, as we shall see. 

The top selling list is dominated by the diminutive Kei car class. Kei cars account for over a third of all sales, are exclusively local and there aren't that many of them in terms of choice. That is why they are the biggest selling models. 

Mazda is the 6th most popular brand and not one model can reach 30,000 sales. However, the range it does have sells quite evenly. The small 2 model just pipped the new CX-30 compact crossover. The CX-30 slots between the CX-3 and CX-5 but isn't called the CX-4 due to already having a model China sold as such. Its lack of a strong Kei range doesn't help. 

Much of what was said about Mazda applies here. No big selling models but volume among models is similar. Low Kei penetration too at 12.7%, obtaining then from Daihatsu but they sell in small numbers.

Its range seems more focused on overseas markets and export success. It clearly has a small but loyal following locally but with what it has on offer, it's achieving all it can domestically.

Mitsubishi doesn't have much popularity at home, ranking a lowly 8th. Sales revolve around the two eK Kei models it makes for itself and also for Nissan in the form of the Dayz and Roox. 

Apart from that the Delica D:5 MPV van is modestly well received. Models such as the Eclipse Cross, Outlander, Mirage and RVR sell in too low a number to register here. I find that surprising. 

Lexus started in 1989 as an export brand to the USA but locally the models were sold under the Toyota brand. It wasn't until 2005 that it entered the domestic scene as a brand in its own right. 

Sales have steadily improved but taking market share from established premium marques has been a challenge. Sales are spread across the range quite evenly.

Inappropriate Car Names - Mitsubishi Carisma

Even the lady is amused by the name

Mitsubishi Carisma. 

- Compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.

The car had redeeming features but where it failed was in charisma. The styling was bland, both inside and out. It was designed with Europe in mind and had the car delivered on that charisma, surely a winner. Although the name was promising, it didn't deliver on that front at all. Just over 384,000 were made over nine years (42,700 p.a.). The name was misleading and after a promising start, sales soon fell away.

Alternative name suggestion: Mitsubishi Lacklustre.

Others in the series: Isuzu MU, Daewoo le Mans / Cielo, 

Nissan Sylphy, Toyota Isis, Daihatsu Applause.

Mitsubishi Euro Sales (By Model) : 2000-2019

The original Outlander

Mitsubishi has been in Europe since back in the mid 1970's but recently announced it will wind down its operations and at some point stop sales altogether in Europe. That's not a bad move, considering it needs to make money and it appears that isn't happening in this region.

In the decade prior to this century starting, the brand was consistently between 1.0% - 1.5% penetration. Not big but useful. Did it have ambitions to do more than that? I would have thought so but at what price in order to achieve that?

2000-04: The new millennium started off with a thinning of the range. It did have a wide range of vehicles for the sales it was achieving, so a sensible move. That sent its share of the market under the 1% mark. The Space Star was assembled in Europe but with very modest volume and that ended in 2005 .

A major problem was there wasn't a model that really captured the market, like say what the Qashqai did for Nissan. By 2004, all the vehicles were below 30,000 sales and the total had gone from 176,000 to 137,000.

	Model / Year	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000
	Space Star	29,183	37,147	42,074	40,923	36,591
	Pajero/Montero	23,275	25,785	26,799	26,739	26,795
	Colt	21,263	7,048	8,638	7,409	15,982
	Lancer	15,431	5,089	547	3,464	10,129
	Outlander	11,468	8,544
	Carisma	11,282	19,410	21,866	21,911	34,078
	Pajero Sport	10,153	8,341	8,841	5,632	10,160
	Pajero Pinin	6,527	8,556	11,372	11,301	11,399
	Grandis/Spa Wag	5,887	2,765	3,869	4,446	8,581
	Galant	498	3,514	5,673	7,493	13,636
	Space Runner	8	173	105	1,788	3,443
	Shogun Pinin				3,705	1,776
	Shogun Sport				1,545	968
	Space Gear				434	1,833
	3000 GT				82	209
	Eclipse				70	125
	Others	2,066	17	303	42	324
	Total	137,041	126,389	130,087	136,984	176,029
	% Europe	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.3

2005-09: The Colt did become the big hitting model it was needing and registrations for that car peaked at 70,000 in 2006. Market share nearly returned to 1% as well. That proved somewhat of a false dawn as the Colt couldn't sustain the sales and the brand's numbers drifted down. They went under 100,000 units by 2009 and market share back to 0.7%.

	Model / Year	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
	Colt	45,720	52,396	62,678	70,150	63,365
	Lancer	22,788	19,878	10,958	14,770	15,044
	Outlander	18,782	28,941	34,020	7,921	9,218
	Pajero/Montero	5,740	8,151	18,523	14,028	17,316
	Grandis	2,829	4,437	7,145	10,406	7,874
	Pajero Sport			1,972	7,207	9,769
	Space Star			32	1,923	13,761
	Pajero Pinin				1,507	4,428
	Carisma				72	426
	Galant					216
	Others	36	114	83	210	428
	Total	95,895	113,917	135,411	128,194	141,845
	% Europe	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9

2010-14: Sales took on a stable look as the ASX and the Outlander became the two most popular within the range. The Space Star returned (Mirage elsewhere) and between the three of them maintained sales at around the 100,000 point. Was that enough?

	Model / Year	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
	ASX	33,725	26,208	31,909	46,817	20,498
	Outlander	34,984	25,760	14,497	17,642	21,567
	Space Star	22,116	13,942
	Pajero/Montero	4,819	3,437	4,432	6,904	6,762
	Lancer	3,730	2,808	5,071	12,762	20,252
	i-MiEV	675	885	1,634	2,608	97
	Attrage/Colt		7,492	18,134	25,237	29,665
	Grandis					1,848
	Others	325	133	54	333	37
	Total	100,374	80,665	75,731	112,303	100,726
	% Europe	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.8

2015-19: The Eclipse Cross joined the team and sales started heading toward 150,000 and Euro market share was nudging 1%. Things were better and one could have assumed that the brand would be sticking around. The downside was the company wasn't in a great place financially, leading to Nissan taking a share to help it survive.

Rationalisation was needed and the company was at its best in the Asia/Pacific region. This was to be its new focus and Europe simply wasn't a justifiable expense. It was time to wind things down and forget the idea of it needing to be everywhere. Profit was the goal and Europe was a hindrance to achieving that.

	Model / Year	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
	Outlander	47,402	39,529	36,453	41,223	46,589
	Space Star	39,135	36,059	30,377	27,735	29,661
	ASX	30,493	32,026	39,382	40,880	44,926
	Eclipse Cross	27,004	26,751	573
	Shogun Sport	551	359
	Pajero/Montero	508	4,505	4,475	5,619	5,965
	i-MiEV	166	333	450	487	713
	Lancer	44	589	1,630	2,736	3,604
	Attrage/Colt				168	356
	Others	9	32	18	40	26
	Total	145,312	140,183	113,358	118,888	131,840
	% Europe	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.9

For others in the series, please click on the brand name below.

Alfa Romeo - DR Motors - Fiat Part 1 - Honda - Hyundai Part 1 - Infiniti - Jaguar -
Kia - Lancia - Land Rover - Mazda - Nissan - Opel/Vauxhall - Peugeot Part 1 -
Renault Part 1 - Saab - SEAT - Škoda - Subaru - Volvo

The current Space Star