Mitsubishi Ready to Shut in SA

[outback_ute]

Nissan was building Pintaras and Pulsars when local production ceased, they never built Patrols that I know of. Previously they had built the Skyline and spin-off rwd Pintaras.

Mind you I think that Mitsubishi should transfer Pajero production (& development) out here.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by outback_ute

Nissan was building Pintaras and Pulsars when local production ceased, they never built Patrols that I know of. Previously they had built the Skyline and spin-off rwd Pintaras.

Mind you I think that Mitsubishi should transfer Pajero production (& development) out here.

Chances are, they will get the Outlander. Perhaps MMAL could be their 4WD Producer for the RHD Market.

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Chances are, they will get the Outlander. Perhaps MMAL could be their 4WD Producer for the RHD Market.

I looked into that and the new outlander is on a stretched GS platform shared with the upcoming Lancer.

Tonsley Park is only tooled to produce the PS platform, which is the American platform that includes the American SUV, Endeavour.

I really don't see them getting the new Outlander at this stage unless a substantial amount more is invested into the plant.

[blueoval]

It will be sad for SA's economic growth, but I knew this day would come sooner or later.

Who here wouldnt mind buying a cheap brand new 380 VRX etc?

I know if I wasnt saving to build a house I would consider it. Especially if the warranty is valid after the fall of plant.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Paxton

MMAL have three saving graces.

1) The Outlander. They are in the process of getting Local production of that here.
2) Malaysia. If MMAL were closing down, why would they be 'wasting' money engineering the 2.4 Litre Mivec to fit into the 380's chassis, and then building a heap of them as Kits to send to Malaysia?
3) MMAL are actively pursuing Middle Eastern exports. Mitsubishi would look better in the Middle East compared to the American Ford and GMC.

I am not the first person to defend them, however as DellBoy said, they will be here in 2008. I think they will end up running the 380 to the end of its model life, and then reviewing their options. Only then will they shut up shop.

How do you continue on when your just about insolvent? The government isnt going to keep funding them and why should they, they obviously cannot compete in our market for a number of reasons, the biggest being poor management and lots of lies. They made alot of promises late last year which they turned back on, theres nothing wrong with their cars it seems its more of an issue with their people.

If they do continue on giving cars away its going to have a huge affect on the entire Australian market, its going to affect resale values for Ford and Holden. Their only chance to bring the car back is to spend 5 - 6 million on re tooling the front and rear based on the feedback they have been given and to hit it up with a new model again. I reckon a good start would be to carry the VRX rear across the range and only have 4 Models. BASE, SX, VRX, and GT. They also need to look at putting some more technology in them.

[turboute]

Originally Posted by LethalLeigh

Why are people still insisting that the 380 needed to be a RWD car? Firstly, considering the percentage of fleet purchases versus private, who would actually use the handling advantages of such a layout?

One word answer - resale

no one wants to buy a magna/380 when you can get equivalently priced Falcons/Commodore, in which the main difference is power and drivetrain layout.
the 380 is pretty much level in every other respect.

IMO they should build a smaller car - just bigger / same size as a lancer , RWD and avg specced - Equiv to Commodore/Falcon. Get on to this before Holden get the chance to release the Torana (if that happens).

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

How do you continue on when your just about insolvent? The government isnt going to keep funding them and why should they, they obviously cannot compete in our market for a number of reasons, the biggest being poor management and lots of lies.

Their no-where near insolvent. MMAL has four key businesses - building cars, selling cars (imports and locals), after sales service & parts, car rental (thrifty).

Only one of these is underperforming - and thats Tonsley Park. MMAL is actually making enough retail margin on it's car sales (mainly from its MMC imports) that it's been able to pay back quarterly dividends to Japan. Plus MMAL has a letter of support from MMC.

As for the Government continuing to fund them - not exactly, the majority of government funding has already been spent in gearing up the plant and developing the 380 - which did land a lot of short term jobs for many engineers and designers. And as for government handouts in the automotive industry - all the other big four, and even Subaru go for as much government funding as the government is willing to give them.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Dave_au

Their no-where near insolvent. MMAL has four key businesses - building cars, selling cars (imports and locals), after sales service & parts, car rental (thrifty).

Only one of these is underperforming - and thats Tonsley Park. MMAL is actually making enough retail margin on it's car sales (mainly from its MMC imports) that it's been able to pay back quarterly dividends to Japan. Plus MMAL has a letter of support from MMC.

As for the Government continuing to fund them - not exactly, the majority of government funding has already been spent in gearing up the plant and developing the 380 - which did land a lot of short term jobs for many engineers and designers. And as for government handouts in the automotive industry - all the other big four, and even Subaru go for as much government funding as the government is willing to give them.

Im talking about the Tonsley park opperation itself, not the rest of Mits Aus.

[Dave_au]

Fair enough. Well you've got a world class production plant and a workforce just sitting there - even if the 380 can't make a go of it, I hope MMAL or another car manufacturer could.