Besides being part of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, it is also a part ofMitsubishikeiretsu, formerly the biggest industrial group in Japan. The company was originally formed in 1970 from the automotive division ofMitsubishi Heavy Industries.[9]
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, which builds commercial-grade trucks, buses, and heavy construction equipment, was formerly a part of Mitsubishi Motors, but is now owned by German automotive corporationDaimler Truck, with Mitsubishi continuing to own a small stake.
Workers at Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, alongside one of the prototypeMitsubishi Model A automobiles (1917)
Mitsubishi's automotive origins date back to 1917, when the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., introduced theMitsubishi Model A, Japan's first series-production automobile.[10] An entirely hand-built seven-seatersedan based on theFIAT Tipo 3, it proved expensive compared to its American and European mass-produced rivals, and was discontinued in 1921 after only 22 had been built.[11]
In 1934, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding was merged with the Mitsubishi Aircraft Co., a company established in 1920 to manufacture aircraft engines and other parts. The unified company was known asMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and was the largest private company in Japan.[12] MHI concentrated on manufacturingaircraft,ships,railroad cars and machinery, but in 1937 developed thePX33, a prototype sedan for military use. It was the first Japanese-built passenger car with full-timefour-wheel drive, a technology the company would return to almost 50 years later in its quest for motorsport and sales success.[13]
Immediately following the end of theSecond World War, the company returned to manufacturing vehicles.Fuso bus production resumed, while a smallthree-wheeled cargo vehicle called theMizushima and ascooter called theSilver Pigeon were also developed. However, thezaibatsu (Japan's family-controlled industrial conglomerates) were ordered to be dismantled by theAllied powers in 1950, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was split into three regional companies, each with an involvement in motor-vehicle development: West Japan Heavy-Industries, Central Japan Heavy-Industries, and East Japan Heavy-Industries.
East Japan Heavy-Industries began importing theHenry J, an inexpensive American sedan built byKaiser Motors, inknockdown kit (CKD) form in 1951, and continued to bring them to Japan for the remainder of the car's three-year production run. The same year, Central Japan Heavy-Industries concluded a similar contract withWillys (now owned by Kaiser) for CKD-assembledJeep CJ-3Bs. This deal proved more durable, with licensed Mitsubishi Jeeps in production until 1998, 30 years after Willys had replaced the model.
By the beginning of the 1960s, Japan's economy was gearing up; wages were rising and the idea of family motoring was taking off. Central Japan Heavy-Industries, now known as Shin Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, had already re-established an automotive department in its headquarters in 1953. Now, it was ready to introduce theMitsubishi 500, a mass-market sedan, to meet the new demand from consumers. It followed this in 1962 with theMinicakei car and the Colt 1000, the first of itsColt line of family cars, in 1963. In 1964, Mitsubishi introduced its largest passenger sedan, theMitsubishi Debonair as a luxury car primarily for the Japanese market, and was used by senior Mitsubishi executives as a company car.
West Japan Heavy-Industries (now renamed Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Engineering) and East Japan Heavy-Industries (now Mitsubishi Nihon Heavy-Industries) had also expanded their automotive departments in the 1950s, and the three were reintegrated as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1964. Within three years, its output was over 75,000 vehicles annually. Following the successful introduction of the firstGalant in 1969 and similar growth with its commercial-vehicle division, the company decided to create a single operation to focus on the automotive industry. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) was formed on 22 April 1970, as a wholly owned subsidiary of MHI under the leadership of Tomio Kubo, a successful engineer from the aircraft division.[citation needed]
The logo of three red diamonds, shared with over 40 other companies within thekeiretsu, antedates Mitsubishi Motors itself by almost a century. It was chosen byIwasaki Yatarō, the founder of Mitsubishi, as it was suggestive of the emblem of the Tosa clan who first employed him, and because his own family crest was threerhombi stacked atop each other. The nameMitsubishi (三菱) consists of two parts –mitsu meaning "three" andhishi (which becomes "bishi" underrendaku) meaning "water caltrop" (also called "water chestnut"), and hence "rhombus", which is reflected in the company'slogo.[14]
Part of Tomio Kubo's expansion strategy was to increase exports by forging alliances with well-established foreign companies. Therefore, in 1971, MHI sold U.S. automotive giantChrysler a 15% share in the new company. Thanks to this deal, Chrysler began selling the Galant in the United States as theDodge Colt (which was the first rebadged Mitsubishi product sold by Chrysler), pushing MMC's annual production beyond 250,000 vehicles. In 1977, the Galant was sold as theChrysler Sigma in Australia.
By 1977, a network of "Colt"-branded distribution and sales dealerships had been established across Europe, as Mitsubishi sought to begin selling vehicles directly. Annual production had by now grown from 500,000 vehicles in 1973 to 965,000 in 1978, when Chrysler began selling the Galant as theDodge Challenger and thePlymouth Sapporo. However, this expansion was beginning to cause friction; Chrysler saw their overseas markets forsubcompacts as being directly encroached by their Japanese partners, while MMC felt the Americans were demanding too much say in their corporate decisions.
Mitsubishi Motors finally achieved annual production of a million cars in 1980, but by this time, its ally was not so healthy; as part of its battle to avoidbankruptcy, Chrysler was forced to sell its Australian manufacturing division to MMC that year. The new Japanese owners renamed itMitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd (MMAL).
In 1982, the Mitsubishi brand was introduced to the American market for the first time. TheTrediasedan, and theCordia andStarioncoupés were initially sold through 70 dealers in 22 states, with an allocation of 30,000 vehicles among them. Thisquota, restricted by mutual agreement between the two countries' governments, had to be included among the 120,000 cars earmarked for Chrysler. A restricting element of Mitsubishi's deal with Chrysler was that Chrysler had the right of first refusal of any Mitsubishi automobiles in the US market until 1990.[15] Toward the end of the 1980s, as MMC initiated a major push to increase its U.S. presence, it aired its first national television advertising campaign and made plans to increase its network to 340 dealers.
Despite the ongoing tensions between Chrysler and Mitsubishi, they agreed to unite in a vehicle manufacturing operation inNormal, Illinois. The 50/50 venture provided a way to circumvent the voluntary import restrictions, while providing a new line ofcompact andsubcompact cars for Chrysler.Diamond-Star Motors (DSM)—from the parent companies' logos: three diamonds (Mitsubishi) and a pentastar (Chrysler)—was incorporated in October 1985, and in April 1986, ground was broken on a 1.9-million-square-foot (177,000 m2) production facility in Normal. In 1987, the company was selling 67,000 cars a year in the U.S., but when the plant was completed in March 1988, it offered an annual capacity of 240,000 vehicles. Initially, three platform-sharing compact 2+2 coupés were released, theMitsubishi Eclipse,Eagle Talon, andPlymouth Laser, with other models being introduced in subsequent years.
In 1986 Mitsubishi reached an agreement withLiuzhou Automotive to assemble theirMinicab kei van and truck there, making Mitsubishi the third Japanese manufacturer (afterDaihatsu andSuzuki) to begin assembly in China.[citation needed] Before receiving government approval for this project, Mitsubishi had to express contrition over "defective" Mitsubishi trucks imported to China in 1984 and 1985.[16] By 1989, Mitsubishi's worldwide production, including its overseas affiliates, had reached 1.5 million units.
Mitsubishi Motors went public in 1988, ending its status as the only one of Japan's 11 auto manufacturers to be privately held. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries agreed to reduce its share to 25%, retaining its position as largest single stockholder. Chrysler, meanwhile, increased its holding to over 20%. The capital raised by this initial offering enabled Mitsubishi to pay off part of its debts, as well as to expand its investments throughout Southeast Asia, where it was by now operating in thePhilippines,Malaysia, andThailand.
Hirokazu Nakamura became president of Mitsubishi Motors in 1989, and steered the company in some promising directions, with the advent of theJapanese asset price bubble "market correction" that led to theLost Decade as a result of thePlaza Accord agreement signed in 1985. Sales of the company's newPajero were bucking conventional wisdom by becoming popular even in the crowded streets of Japan.
Japanese media rumored in 1992 and 1993 that Mitsubishi Motors intended a hostile acquisition ofHonda. While Mitsubishi was riding high off of profitable vehicles such as the Diamante and Pajero, Honda was caught off-guard with the SUV and truck boom, and was losing focus after the illness and later death ofits founder. Honda CEONobuhiko Kawamoto took drastic steps, though, such as exiting Formula 1 and discontinuing unprofitable vehicles to avert a Mitsubishi takeover, which proved effective.[17]
Although sales ofSUVs and light trucks were booming in the U.S., Japan's car manufacturers dismissed the idea that such a trend could occur in their own country. Nakamura, however, increased the budget for SUV product development, and his gamble paid off; Mitsubishi's wide line offour-wheel drive vehicles, from theMitsubishi Pajero Mini kei car to theDelica Space Gear passenger van, rode the wave of SUV-buying in Japan in the early to mid-1990s, and Mitsubishi saw its overall domestic share rise to 11.6% in 1995.
In 1991, Chrysler sold its equity stake in Diamond-Star Motors to its partner Mitsubishi Motors, and from then on the two companies continued to share components and manufacturing on a contractual basis only. Chrysler decreased its interest in Mitsubishi Motors to less than 3% in 1992, and announced its decision to divest itself of all its remaining shares on the open market in 1993. The two companies then terminated their close alliance, with Mitsubishi Motors no longer supplying parts for engines and transmissions for Chrysler. After this period, the company sought alliances with many other automotive manufacturers in different areas of the world, as described under "other alliances" below, with its most economically significant alliance being withNissan to develop and manufacture kei cars.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) participated in a ¥540-billion emergency rescue of Mitsubishi Motors in January 2005, in partnership withMitsubishi Corporation andMitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group.[18][19] As part of the rescue, MHI acquired ¥50 billion of Mitsubishi Motors stock, increasing its ownership stake to 15% and making the automaker an affiliate again. The emergency rescue was carried out 4 years after a product recall scandal in Japan that was triggered by accusations of Mitsubishi Motors trying to systematically hide manufacturing defects to avoid recalls, and marketing problems in the US.[18]
After a starvation of new investment caused by lack of cashflow, the company introduced the award-winningMitsubishi i kei car in 2006, its first new model in 29 months, while a revised Outlander has been introduced worldwide to compete in the popularXUV market niche.[20] The next generation of its Lancer andLancer Evolution was launched in 2007 and 2008.[21]
Slow-selling vehicles were eliminated from the U.S. market, purchase projections for theGlobal Engine Manufacturing Alliance have been scaled back, and 10,000 jobs were shed to cut costs with 3,400 workers at its Australian plant and other loss-making operations still under threat. Meanwhile, in an effort to increase production at its U.S. facility,[22] new export markets for the Eclipse and Galant were being explored in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Russia, where the company's bestselling dealership is located.[23] Mitsubishi Motors has also been active inOEM production of cars forNissan,[24] and announced a similar partnership withGroupe PSA in July 2005 to manufacture an SUV on their behalf.[25]
Mitsubishi Motors reported its first profitable quarter in four years in the third quarter of 2006,[26] and returned to profitability by the end of the 2006 financial year, and sustained profitability and global sales of 1,524,000 through 2007 and later.[27][22]
In January 2011, the company announced its next midterm business plan to introduce eight hybrid and battery-powered models by 2015. It aimed to sell its first two plug-in hybrids by fiscal 2012.[28]
In March 2015, Mitsubishi Motors started the construction of a newmanufacturing plant in Indonesia under a joint venture withMitsubishi Corporation (40%) and a local company Krama Yudha Group (9%), with the maximum production capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year.[29]
In July 2015, the Mitsubishi Motors announced that it plans to end production at theDiamond-Star Motors plant inNormal, Illinois, US, as the plant has been operating well below capacity for several years. Operations at the facility ended in May 2016.[30] The plant was sold to Maynards Industries, which sold the site to American electric vehicle startupRivian in 2017.
In May 2016, in the wake of the fuel-efficiency scandal uncovered by Nissan (discussed in"Fuel economy scandal"),[31] Nissan began the acquisition of a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, with the aim of making Nissan the largest and controlling shareholder of Mitsubishi and turning Mitsubishi Motors into a member of the Renault–Nissan Alliance (the "Alliance"). Nissan has said that they plan to share some car platforms and jointly develop future vehicles with Mitsubishi Motors.[32] Nissan's acquisition of the 34% controlling interest in Mitsubishi Motors was completed in October 2016, whenCarlos Ghosn, the chairman of Nissan,Renault, and the Alliance, also became chairman of Mitsubishi Motors.[8] Ghosn remained chairman of Mitsubishi until his dismissal following his arrest by the Japanese government in November 2018, when Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko assumed the chairmanship.[33]
By 2023, Renault Group began supplying Mitsubishi cars in Europe, with theRenault Clio andRenault Captur rebadge as the Colt and ASX.[34][35] The firm has no plans to sell any of the models in Britain or Ireland, as the Colt Car Company's Mitsubishi aftersales business was bought as a going concern by International Motors (a firm previously known for launching Hyundai onto the UK market in 1981).[36][37]
Mitsubishi Motors plans to stop developing car platforms for the Japanese market and instead use vehicle bases made by ally Nissan Motor beginning around 2026.[38]
The Colt name appears frequently in Mitsubishi's history since its introduction as a rear-engine 600-cc sedan in the early 1960s. Today, it most commonly refers to the Mitsubishi Colt subcompact in the company's line-up, but is also the name of MMC's import/distribution company in the United Kingdom, theColt Car Company, established in 1974. For the first decade of its existence, before Far Eastern auto manufacturers had established their reputations, its cars carried the "Colt" badge in Britain instead of "Mitsubishi".
In 1982 and 1983, Mitsubishi introduced the Australian-builtMitsubishi Sigma to the UK as theLonsdale YD41 in an attempt to circumvent British import quotas, but the new brand was unsuccessful. It then carried Mitsubishi Sigma badges in 1983–84 before abandoning this operation entirely.
South Korean manufacturerHyundai, built theHyundai Pony in 1975 using MMC'sSaturn engine and transmissions. Korea's first car, it remained in production for 13 years. Mitsubishi held up to a 10% stake in the company, until disposing of the last of its remaining shares in March 2003.
The South African Motor Corporation (Samcor) (previously also called Sigma Corporation and MMI) was a joint venture created in 1985, which producedFord,Mazda, andMitsubishi vehicles for the local South African market, with theMitsubishi Delica being rebadged as the Ford Husky minibus and theMitsubishi Canter as the Ford Triton light truck.[39][40] Samcor also made a version of the Mazda 323 for the UK market called the Sao Penza,[41] which was a marque likeLonsdale YD41, invented to get around British import quotas.
Malaysian manufacturerProton was initially very dependent on Mitsubishi Motors, assembling their 1985Proton Saga using mostly MMC components at a newly established facility inShah Alam. Subsequent models like theWira andPerdana were based on the Lancer/Colt and Galant/Eterna, respectively, before the company finally produced entirely self-developed vehicles, theWaja in 2000, and theProton Gen-2 in 2004. At its peak, the Proton controlled 75% of its domestic market, even after Mitsubishi ended their 22-year partnership in 2005, selling their 7.9% stake forRM384 million[42] toKhazanah Nasional Berhad. However, in October 2008, Proton renewed its technology-transfer agreements with MMC, and theProton Inspira (the Proton Waja replacement) was again based on the Mitsubishi Lancer platform and officially launched on 10 November 2010.[needs update]
Mitsubishi participated in a joint venture with rival carmakerVolvo and the Dutch government at the formerDAF plant inBorn in 1991. The operation, brandedNedCar, began producing the first-generationMitsubishi Carisma alongside theVolvo S40/V40 in 1996. The factory later produced the latestMitsubishi Colt and the relatedSmart Forfour (partnerDaimlerChrysler cancelled its production in 2006). Production of European market-boundMitsubishi Outlanders, andbadge-engineered versions of this vehicle, were also manufactured in the Netherlands until 2012, when the company sold the plant to the Dutch industrial conglomerateVDL Groep.[43][44][45]Mitsubishi Motors Europe's headquarters and their European distribution center are still based in Born.
In Indonesia, Mitsubishi offered theColt T120SS light truck between 1991 and 2019 based on theSuzuki Carry. Despite the same bodywork, the fascia is unique to Mitsubishi and it is manufactured in the local Mitsubishi plant. The engine used is either Mitsubishi's 1.3 L (1,343 cc) carbureted4G17 or the bigger 1.5 L (1,468 cc) fuel-injected4G15. In 2005, the alliance continued by rebadging theSuzuki APV toMitsubishi Maven. Few styling changes were applied, and the 4G15 engine was used instead of Suzuki's G15A engine. The Maven was discontinued in 2009 due to poor sales. The Colt T120SS was discontinued in 2019 as the base vehicle, the Suzuki Carry was updated, and Mitsubishi was not interested in continuing the alliance.[46]
Upon selling its Volvo Cars division toFord in January 1999, Volvo Group purchased a 5% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in November of that same year, but sold its stake to shareholder DaimlerChrysler in March 2001.[47]
Two further ties were established between the companies in 2008, first with the establishment of a jointly owned production facility inKaluga, which would manufacture up to 160,000 Outlander-based SUVs for the fast-growing Russian market.[49] They were also collaborating in the research and development of electric powertrains for small urban vehicles.[50] Japanese newspaperNikkei claimed that PSA will sell the electric city car Mitsubishi iMIEV in Europe by 2011.[51]
In Europe, diesel engines supplied by German manufacturerVolkswagen were used for some of its mid-sized cars,[52] such as theLancer,[53]Grandis,[54] andOutlander.[55] From 2010, they were superseded with Mitsubishi's self-developed4N1 diesel engines.
In December 2010, Mitsubishi and Nissan agreed to form a joint venture (later named "NMKV Co., Ltd.") to develop kei cars for the Japanese market.[57] In 2016, Nissan uncovered evidence that Mitsubishi's fuel-economy testing numbers were erroneous and had been erroneous since the start of the venture, affecting 625,000 cars produced by NMKV.[31] The result of the"fuel economy scandal" was that Nissan acquired a controlling interest in Mitsubishi.
In July 2024, Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan announced a partnership withHonda for the joint development of their future electric models.[58] On 23 December 2024,Honda officially announced an MOU had been entered to merge with Japanese car companyNissan to become the 3rd largest auto company by sales. Mitsubishi Motors, in which Nissan has 24% ownership, also agreed to join the talks of integration.[59] In mid February 2025, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi ended talks due to the talks shifting to Nissan becoming a subsidiary of Honda, which Nissan refused as it wouldn't have allowed the potential of Nissan to be realized. Despite this, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi will continue forward with the partnership formed in July 2024.[60]
Mitsubishi Motors maintained two retail sales channels that sold specific models, called "Car Plaza" and "Galant Shop". Certain models were exclusive to either channel, while some models were available at both channels, as required by local Japanese market conditions. More recently,[when?] due to cancellation of larger sedans, the sales channels have been combined into one franchise that sells all models, including kei cars and commercial delivery vehicles.[citation needed]
The benefits Mitsubishi Motors had seen because of its strong presence in Southeast Asia reversed themselves as a result of theeconomic crisis in the region, which began in 1991 with the advent of the collapse of theJapanese asset price bubble, referred to in Japan as the beginning of theLost Decade and continued to 1997. The collapse was partly the result of thePlaza Accord agreement in 1985, which sought to equalize the United States dollar with the Japaneseyen and the Germanmark. In September of that year, the company closed its Thai factory in response to a crash in the country's currency and plummeting consumer demand. The large truck plant, which had produced 8,700 trucks in 1996, was shut down indefinitely. In addition, Mitsubishi Motors had little support from sales in Japan, which slowed considerably throughout 1997, and were affected by that country's own economic uncertainty into 1998.[61]
Other Japanese automakers, such as Toyota and Honda, bolstered their own slipping domestic sales with success in the U.S. However, with a comparatively small percentage of the American market, the turmoil in the Asian economy had a greater effect on Mitsubishi Motors, and the company's 1997 losses were the worst in its history. In addition, it lost both its rank as the third-largest automaker in Japan to Mazda, and market share overseas. Its stock price fell precipitously, prompting the company to cancel its year-end dividend payment.[61]
In November 1997, Mitsubishi Motors hiredKatsuhiko Kawasoe to replaceTakemune Kimura as company president. Kawasoe unveiled an aggressive restructuring program that aimed to cut costs by ¥350 billion in three years, reduce personnel by 1,400, and return the company to profitability by 1998. While the program had some initial success, the company's sales were still stagnant as the Asian economy continued to sputter. In 1999, Mitsubishi Motors was forced once again to skip dividend payments. Its interest-bearing debt totaled ¥1.7 trillion.[citation needed]
In what was referred to as "one of the largest corporate scandals in Japanese history",[62][63] Mitsubishi Motors was twice forced to admit to systematically covering up defect problems in its vehicles. Four defects were first publicized in 2000, but in 2004, it confessed to 26 more going back as far as 1977, including failing brakes, fuel leaks, and malfunctioning clutches. The effect on the company was catastrophic, forcing it to recall 163,707 cars (156,433 in Japan and 7,274 overseas) for free repair.[64]
Further recalls byFuso Truck and Bus brought the total number of vehicles requiring repair to almost one million. The affair led to the resignation and subsequent arrest of president Kawasoe, along with 23 other employees who were also implicated.[65] Three of them have since been acquitted, with the judge stating that no official request from the Transport Ministry ordered them to submit a defect report.[66]
In an effort to boost sales in the U.S. in the early 2000s, Mitsubishi Motors began offering a "0–0–0" finance offer—0% down, 0% interest, and $0 monthly payments (all repayments deferred for 12 months). Initially, sales leapt, but at the end of the year's "grace period", numerous credit-risky buyers defaulted, leaving the company with used vehicles for which they had received no money and which were now worth less than they cost to manufacture. The company's American credit operation, MMCA, was eventually forced to make a US$454 million provision against its 2003 accounts as a result of these losses.[67] As a result, sales plummeted to 243,000 in 2003, 139,000 in 2004, 124,000 in 2005, and 119,000 in 2006.[68]
In October 2005, Mitsubishi Motors Australia introduced theMitsubishi 380 to the Australian market as the replacement for its long-runningMitsubishi Magna, and the sole vehicle being built at its Australian assembly plant atClovelly Park. Despite an investment ofA$600 million developing the car, initial sales projections proved optimistic; after only six months, Mitsubishi scaled back production from 90/day, and reduced the working week from five days to four.[69] The Australian auto industry remained concerned as to whether this would be sufficient to restore the plant to profitability and ensure its long-term survival.
The drop in local sales could not be mitigated by exports outside of the Australian and New Zealand markets. On 5 February 2008, Mitsubishi Motors Australia announced it would be closing down its Adelaide assembly plant by the end of March. Between 700 and 1,000 direct jobs would be lost and up to 2,000 jobs would be lost in industries supporting Mitsubishi's local manufacturing operations.[70]
With operating losses ¥22 billion ($287 million) in Europe for the fiscal year to March due to stagnant sales in a continent beset by uncertainty of a raging debt crisis,[citation needed] in February 2012, Mitsubishi Motors decided to end production in Western Europe by the end of 2012.[71][72] On 1 October, it announced that the Dutch industrial conglomerateVDL Groep had taken overNedCar from Mitsubishi Motors, retaining all 1,500 employees.[73]
In 1988, Mitsubishi Motors opened a production facility in the United States in Normal, Illinois. The facility was known as Diamond-Star Motors, and was initially a joint venture with Chrysler, but Chrysler sold its stake in the plant to Mitsubishi in 1993. After 1995, the facility was known as Mitsubishi Motors Manufacturing America (MMMA). At its peak in 2000, the facility produced over 222,000 vehicles per year, but following the decline of Mitsubishi Motors in North America, the plant operated well below capacity for years.
In July 2015, Mitsubishi Motors announced that it would close the plant by November, but would continue to sell automobiles in North America. In 2014, the plant had produced just 69,000 vehicles, roughly one-quarter of its capacity.[74] Production at the plant ended on 30 November 2015, and most of the employees were laid off. The plant continued to operate with a minimal staff to produce replacement parts until May 2016, after which it closed permanently.[75]
Mitsubishi Motors announced that the company would leave the UK market due to financial reasons by autumn 2021.[76] Since then, Mitsubishi's British presence is limited to aftersales service.[77]
Mitsubishi Motors announced its withdrawal from its joint ventureGAC Mitsubishi in the Chinese market in October 2023. As part of this exit, GAC Group will take over GAC Mitsubishi's plant inChangsha to produceGAC Aion electric vehicles.[78] This did not affect the Shenyang Aerospace-Mitsubishi Motors engine manufacturing joint venture, which continued production to supply engines to local Chinese automakers and provide aftersales service for Mitsubishi vehicles.[79]
After being established in 1997 and beginning production in 1998 to produce engines for Mitsubishi vehicles and to prominently supply at the time fledgling local Chinese automakers, Mitsubishi announced that it was exiting the Shenyang Aerospace-Mitsubishi Motors Engine Manufacturing joint venture on 22 July 2025. Mitsubishi stated that it made the decision due to the Chinese auto industry's rapid shift to electric vehicle, and it marks the complete exit of the company from the Chinese market.[79]
In early 2016, Mitsubishi Motors partner Nissan found discrepancies between Mitsubishi information and actual fuel consumption while working in new micro (kei) cars for both companies, the eK Wagon, eK Space, Nissan Dayz, and Nissan Dayz Roox.[31] At the time, Mitsubishi Motors manufactured micro cars for Nissan, which had never produced that class of vehicle itself. Mitsubishi Motors admitted that they had been giving incorrect information on fuel consumption from 2002 onwards, using inaccurate test methods.[80] Later, the company said it used fuel-economy testing methods that did not comply with Japanese regulations for 25 years, much longer than previously known.[81]
Mitsubishi Motors management said they were unaware about the issue and that the incorrect information came from the micro car development department,NMKV. They ordered an investigation led by investigators not affiliated with the company.[82] The resultant scandal culminated in Nissan acquiring a controlling interest in MMC in May 2016.[83] As a consequence, Nissan agreed to invest 237.4 billion yen (US$2.2 billion) in exchange for receiving a 34% controlling ownership stake in Mitsubishi Motors.[8]
Due to dilution of existing shares, other Mitsubishi group companies (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corp., and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ) had their combined holdings in Mitsubishi Motors fall to about 20% from 34% previously.[84]
MMNA stated that vehicles sold from 2013 in the United States featured accurate fuel-economy information and were thereby not affected by the scandal.[85]
In May 2016, Mitsubishi Motors announced Tetsuro Aikawa was to resign as the president of the company in effect in June 2016. Both Mitsubishi Motors and Aikawa denied any top management involvement in the mileage scandal. The company said much of the mileage-testing work was assigned to a subsidiary and a lack of scrutiny existed of such work.[86]
In 2014, Tetsuro Aikawa was appointed as the president of the company, becoming the first in more than a decade to have spent an entire career at the company. The career of Aikawa had been mainly in product development, although he was involved in manufacturing and Japan domestic sales lately. Osamu Masuko, the previous president, joined the company from Mitsubishi Corp. in 2004. MMC endured eight presidents between 1989 and 2004.[87]
Mitsubishi Motors started selling itsi MiEV, the all-electric minicar with alithium-ion battery pack tucked under its floor, to retail customers in the summer 2009, a year ahead of schedule. The automaker had initially planned to start leasing the minicar-based vehicle to businesses and municipalities in the summer 2009 and to wait until 2010 for the retail launch.[88] It has also announced its plans to offer five other e-drive vehicles.[89]
Mitsubishi Motors has almost half a century of international motorsport experience, antedating even the incorporation of MMC. Beginning with street races in the early 1960s, the company found itself gravitating towards the challenge of off-road racing. It dominated endurance rallies in the 1970s, theDakar Rally from the '80s, and theGroup A andGroup N classes of theWorld Rally Championship through the 1990s.Ralliart (laterMitsubishi Motors Motor Sports), was Mitsubishi's racing subsidiary, although the company ceased competing formally in 2010.[90]
Mitsubishi Motors's motorsport debut was intouring car racing in 1962, when it entered itsMitsubishi 500 Super DeLuxe in theMacau Grand Prix in an effort to promote sales of its first postwar passenger car. In an auspicious debut, the diminutive rear-engined sedan swept the top four places in the "Under 750 cc" category, with Kazuo Togawa taking class honours.[91] The company returned the following year with their new Mitsubishi Colt 600 and again swept the podium with a 1–2–3 in the "Under 600 cc" class.[92] In its final year of competition with touring cars in 1966, Mitsubishi scored a podium clean sweep in the "750–1000 cc" class of the 1964 Japanese Grand Prix with the Colt 1000, their first front-engined competition vehicle.[93]
The company began concentrating on the Japanese GP's emerging open-wheel "formula car" categories from 1966, winning the "Exhibition" class. They also scored class 1–2 in 1967 and 1968, and reached the podium in 1969 and 1970.[94] They finished on a high with an overall 1–2 in the 1971 Japan GP, with the two litreDOHC F2000 driven by Kuniomi Nagamatsu.[95]
TheEast African Safari Rally was by far the most gruelling event on the World Rally Championship calendar in the 1970s. MMC developed theLancer 1600 GSR specifically for the marathon race, and won at the first attempt in 1974. Their highpoint was a clean sweep of the podium places in 1976 in an event where only 20% of the starters typically reached the finish. They also achieved a 1–2–3–4 in the 1973Southern Cross Rally, the first of four consecutive victories in this event with driversAndrew Cowan andKenjiro Shinozuka.[96]
Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05.
During the 1980s, Mitsubishi continued to participate in the WRC, first with the Lancer EX2000 Turbo and theStarion. It then scored its first outrightGroup A victories with aGalant VR-4 in the late '80s, Mitsubishi homologated theLancer Evolution, and in the hands of Finland'sTommi Mäkinen, winner of thedrivers' title for four consecutive years (1996–1999), they won themanufacturers' championship in1998. They have won 34 WRC events since 1973.[97] The Lancer Evo has also dominated the FIA championship for showroom-ready cars, winning seven consecutiveGroup N titles with four different drivers from 1995 to 2001. Even in 2002, when it ostensibly lost the title, the class-winning manufacturer wasProton using a Lancer Evo-based Pert.[98]
Mitsubishi Motors is also the most successful manufacturer in the history of theDakar Rally. MMC's maiden entry was in 1983 with their new Pajero, and only three attempts were needed to find a winning formula. Since then, they have won in 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, and between 2001 and 2007, an unprecedented seven consecutive victories and 12th overall with nine different drivers.[99] They also won the 2003FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, along withCarlos Sousa.[citation needed]
Mitsubishi Motors has had a 30-year-long association with actorJackie Chan, who has used their vehicles almost exclusively in his movies throughout his career.[100][101][102] The Jackie Chan Cup, first held in 1984,[103] is an annual celebrity auto race involving international motor journalists and starlets from across Asia in Mitsubishis with professional touring car drivers alongside for assistance, and was held before the Macau GP until 2004, when it moved to Shanghai.[104] In September 2005Ralliart, Mitsubishi's motorsport arm, produced 50 Jackie Chan Special Edition versions of theLancer Evo IX; Chan acts as the honorary director of Team Ralliart China.[105][106]
The company has vehicle manufacturing facilities in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, and 12 plants co-owned in partnership with others.[6][108] In Brazil, it has a production agreement with a local group with no direct investment from MMC.[109] It also has three further engine and transmission manufacturing plants, five R&D centres, and 75 subsidiaries, affiliates, and partners. Its vehicles are manufactured, assembled, or sold in more than 160 countries worldwide.[6]
Sakahogi, Gifu: Pajero Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Closed in 2021.
Ooe, Nagoya: Vehicle production plant closed in 2001 after MMC’s major safety scandal and the following financial losses. Sold later on to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
^abWen, Zhou (2025-07-23).时代落幕：三菱汽车完全退出中国汽车相关生产业务 [End of an Era: Mitsubishi Motors Completely Withdraws from China's Automobile-related Production Business].ITHome. Retrieved2025-07-23.
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