Mitsubishi Ready to Shut in SA

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2006, 07:35 PM

Rumour in the Industry has it that Mitsubishi will be closing down the 380 program in the next few months due to the car not selling as projected. Apparently some dealers are no longer ordering cars due to the fact that they can't sell them and there is still an abundance of 05 stock around with only 50 - 60 cars being built a day now (down from 170).

Its going to be a sad day for the Australian Automotive Industry when it happens as it seems theres no question about it now. I certainly think the 380 is a better car then the Camry and would have done well with the right company pushing it. Mitsubishi Australia will obviously continue on selling its imported models, what they will replace the 380 with im not sure, maybe they will import the Galant?

:

Id say their plan is to keep building small amounts up until December (when they are apparently closing the plant) so that consumers dont lose too much faith and keep buying, once they sell 80% of dealer stock they will then stop buliding them and it will be runout 380 time!

Brute6 · 12-09-2006, 07:37 PM

Ouch.....

Thats a bugger.

MoreHPformyXR6 · 12-09-2006, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Rumour in the Industry has it that Mitsubishi will be closing down the 380 program in the next few months due to the car not selling as projected. Apparently some dealers are no longer ordering cars due to the fact that they can't sell them and there is still an abundance of 05 stock around with only 50 - 60 cars being built a day now (down from 170).

Its going to be a sad day for the Australian Automotive Industry when it happens as it seems theres no question about it now. I certainly think the 380 is a better car then the Camry and would have done well with the right company pushing it. Mitsubishi Australia will obviously continue on selling its imported models, what they will replace the 380 with im not sure, maybe they will import the Galant?

:

The sad part is the day the month they lock it up will probarly be the month they sell more then they ever did because they will have to give massive discounts to get rid of the left over stock. Id say their plan is to keep building small amounts for the time being so consumers keep buying then once they sell 80% of whats left around they will kill it.

That's a rumour I hope doesnt come true. Hopefully a few big fleet orders for 380. It would not be good for Australia & certainly have a massive impact on employment in this state. All though there is other industry's (including defence) going ahead in leaps & bounds in Adelaide.

Ruger · 12-09-2006, 07:42 PM

i say they should ditch the family car thing too much competition in there already

troppo · 12-09-2006, 07:43 PM

Yep, snuck up on me too. Of course, I've been oblivious to the writing thats been on the wall for some time now, since the last taxpayer-funded bail-out actually, but who would've thunk it would come to this....again.....so soon?

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2006, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoreHPformyXR6

That's a rumour I hope doesnt come true. Hopefully a few big fleet orders for 380. It would not be good for Australia & certainly have a massive impact on employment in this state. All though there is other industry's (including defence) going ahead in leaps & bounds in Adelaide.

Can't see many fleets buying them as its apparently hitting the press in the next few days.

If they discontinue the model that will mean wholesale prices will cut in half over night.

Anyone who wants a cheap reliable family car with a decent warranty get your cheque books ready as theres going to be a few around shortly. Mitsubishi have shot themselves too many times, first it was the stupid pricing structure with the Series I 380 that left it out of the competition, then it was the Series II upgrade early this year that cut pricing by up to $8,000 on some models.

Im told that they are at the point where they are even making every colour available across the range to try and get some sales. Its getting desperate for them, i seriously feel for all the staff that work there as their lives have been up and down the last 3 years with Mitsubishi and its future!

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2006, 07:49 PM

DOUBLE POST.

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2006, 07:49 PM

SORRY DOUBLE POST.

AU2PWR · 12-09-2006, 07:53 PM

Seen this Coming the Day I saw the Advertising , Holden and Commodore now rule the Family car market , Mitsubishi , Nissan and Toyota by Luck get their good months , but Australians Buy these two cars .

Prediction of Mitsubishi Bringing out the New 2Door Galant Coupe Again , Reading in a Mag that its in full Design and Project stage , and there will be 3 Engines ,

2.0 lt Naturally Aspirated
2.2 lt Diesel (Yuck)
2.8 lt Turbo

This Will be good as the Old Galants were tough as mustard and lasted until , well , i still own one , so there tough

Cheers
Daniel
Bitsamissing Specialist

MoreHPformyXR6 · 12-09-2006, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

If they discontinue the model that will mean wholesale prices will cut in half over night.

Anyone who wants a cheap reliable family car with a decent warranty get your cheque books ready as theres going to be a few around shortly.

Best new car warranty in the business 5/10. All to help with Sales I assume. I can remember the hype as 380 was unvailed (it was pretty exciting for the motor industry IMO) it only seems a bit over a year ago. What is the RRP for a base 380 auto? I think manual is $27,990. Weather they can reduce prices a little further (still be profitable) & get numbers they need to be viable. But reading the above posts it sounds like the decisions been made (im still keeping my fingers crossed)

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2006, 08:08 PM

The Base Autos a Couple of thousand more.

The issue is they still have 05 380 stock, for example VRXs which they are selling for $30,000, this then kills the base model as no one wants to pay the same price just to get a current year compliance.

The solution to the problem would have been ramp the entire lineup to say 200 kw, chuck in alloys on the base model and delete one of the other models. Instead they decided to gut the *** outta prices to the point where its no longer profitable for them to sell the cars as they arent sustaining a decent Return on Investment.

MoreHPformyXR6 · 12-09-2006, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

The Base Autos a Couple of thousand more.

The issue is they still have 05 380 stock, for example VRXs which they are selling for $30,000, this then kills the base model as no one wants to pay the same price just to get a current year compliance.

The solution to the problem would have been ramp the entire lineup to say 200 kw, chuck in alloys on the base model and delete one of the other models. Instead they decided to gut the *** outta prices to the point where its no longer profitable for them to sell the cars as they arent sustaining a decent Return on Investment.

The VRX looks ordinary for a sports model. The only one I have seen that looks good is in black. I think the put mud flaps on VRX standard. What is it about that? I thought they wanted to get rid of cardigan car company immage. I would hate to think what % of sales XR6's & SV6's of Falcon/Commodore are but this is a fair market in its self.

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2006, 08:36 PM

Madflaps arent standard on any of the 380, they are quiet expensive to from the few ive sold (200 bucks i think for spats).

uranium_death · 13-09-2006, 01:29 PM

The 380 is a very good car, but Mitsubishi has not got an image in Australia.

The Camry traditionally has been a bucket of Donkey Poo in terms of comfort and style, but its reputation as a mechanically sound car appeals.

Ford and Commodore are far more stylish and still hold up.

Our population cannot support four major car manufacturers, especially when large car sales are plummeting in response to rising petrol prices. The 380 isn't a bad car but it hasn't got the reputation.

BA_Turbs · 13-09-2006, 01:46 PM

There must be some fleet sales happening. I've seen two 380 police cars getting around my part of Melbourne recently.

Abacus · 13-09-2006, 01:49 PM

If you go back in history a bit, I believe the big downward turnaround for Mitsubshi was about 15 years ago when they sold one particular Magna with an insanely fragile transmission. From memory, it appeared that trannies were exploding all over the place.

Before that incident they had a good profile, and they were quite sought after. However, they never seemed to regain a quality image after that episode.

Unfair? Yes. But my perception is that this was the turning point in Mitsubishi’s popularity.

Rev28K · 13-09-2006, 01:51 PM

Wow, they couldn’t afford the slightly hotter version that they were after. What happened to the rumours of the (Malaysian?) export 4-cyl version lifting the production numbers?

bathurst77 · 13-09-2006, 02:03 PM

Mitsu got into Aust by bringing out a car that was very different to the current oz built offerings. (ie 4 cyl sigma vs kingswood, valiant and XC/D falcon)
The other 4s at that time were sunbird, cortina, corona and 200B. Sigma was modern luxurious efficient and a great handler by comparison, so seemed a real good thing (at the time).

Now they just try to take on Falc commy and camry directly. Mistu need to make something "very different" that people want, not just a "please consider" alternative.
Maybe a 2litre sporty or a "mini pajero" or kia carnival type machine (boring, but they sell) that they could sell here in aust for cheaper or competitive with imports, and they could export too.

Bud Bud · 13-09-2006, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uranium_death

The 380 is a very good car, but Mitsubishi has not got an image in Australia.

It is a shame because if it was not for the popularity of the Mitsubishi Sigma back in 1980, they would have closed all this down when the last Chrysler rolled of the line.

Mitsubishi must have at least been doing something right back then.

Off topic, I was talking too an engineer involved with emissions at Mitsubishi early this year (March) and he told me that when they were looking at replacing the Magna, they actually thought of taking the 300C, stripping it back to $35.000 sales value and building it in Adelaide as the Magna replacement instead of the 380. These would have been supplemented as well with the imported model.

Apparently the Japs could not get their head around this concept.

Dave_au · 13-09-2006, 02:29 PM

It's actually rumours like these ones that do cause the Tonsley plant the biggest damage of all.

What has happened is that the ABC investigative unit has reportedly come across an item called "Project Phoenix" which outlines exit strategies for MMAL to cease production at the Tonsley plant. Whether this was just strategic risk planning, or an actual exit strategy to be implimented is unclear. There were apparently three options - to announce in early October closure before christmas (which was reported as the preferred option as it's a time of political inactivity - and gives staff a chance to find employment in the new year) or to close in June 07 or November 07.

Both MMAL senior management, SA workers unions and the SA government deny knowledge of this plan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...9/s1739427.htm

Mitsubishi denies Tonsley Park facility facing closure

Mitsubishi Motors in Adelaide has told the ABC's Investigative Unit it has no plans to close it's Tonsley Park manufacturing facility.

The ABC's Investigative Unit says Mitsubishi is considering four options for the closure of its car making plant in Adelaide's south, after sales of the 380 car failed to meet expectations.

It says Mitsubishi's preferred option is to make an announcement in early October and close the plant before Christmas this year.

The ABC's report was broadcast on PM and the information is known only to the top echelons of Mitsubishi management.

The Investigative Unit says the secret strategic plan is called Project Phoenix and details the closure of the Tonsley Plant, which employs 1600 people.

The Investigative Unit says Mitsubishi has denied it has any plans to close its Australian manufacturing operations.

Actual full length report as aired on ABC Radio PM: http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200609/r106473_328740.ram

As for production of the 380 currently - Apparently the majority of 05 stock has been exhausted however the factory has been geared to produce mainly SX and LS models - an oversight now as apparently they have a number of orders for VRX and GT, however these require parts from Japan which have a three month lead time to get.

unclewoja · 13-09-2006, 03:30 PM

I've seen the writing on the walls for months now. And public perception is that Mitsubishi had A bail-out package a few years ago. This is wrong. They've had more than one. I think there was one in late 90's and one a few years ago, both were to the tune of $ 00's millions.

In an industry magazine that I get at work, they published the P&L figures for the top 100 Australian companies for the 03-04 fiscal year and the 04-05 fiscal year. In that report, it stated the Mitsubishi had lost a total of $450 million AUD over the two year period.

When I read that, I basically saw the writing on the wall. Multiple bail-out packages to save jobs, losses to the tune of many, many, many millions of dollars and then a multi, multi million dollar design of a car to compete with Commodore and Falcon that really had no hope ever since it was a twinkle in the designer's eye.

I know this will sound harsh, but I think it's good that they're going. For far too long they have been running that plant at a loss and have been relying on the government to bail them out. This is not on. It is NOT the government's responsibility to hand out tax payer's money simply because a few executives make the wrong decision and lose money. If my business lost $100,000, it is not up to the government to pay me that $100,000 to keep my business going because I don't have the skill to run the business properly.

Yes, Mitsubishi have been getting away with it. The government is scared about what it might mean for so many workers to lose their jobs, so we pay Mitsubishi off to keep everyone employed and happy. And of course, there's a flow on effect.

That money has to come from somewhere. Where? Hospital funding? Higher taxes? Road funds? CEOs have been jailed for running companies into the ground and you're not telling me that there wasn't enough warning given the the CEOs of Mitsubishi that something needed to change a long time ago. From where I stand, and just about any other person of the general public, Mitsubishi have essentially turned a blind eye to their image problem perpretraited mainly by the ricing up of their Lancer range by a lot of the Asian community.

You can't take a car seriously that sits proudly (?) on the showroom floor next to something with a 4 cy turbo fart-canned small car with a 4 stage aluminium wing on the back that sits 4' higher than the roof of the car.

EA2BA · 13-09-2006, 03:39 PM

what a load of hot air.

I bet MMAL is still here in 2008 any takers?

eb2fairmont · 13-09-2006, 03:54 PM

Should have reskinned the previous magna, turned the motr 90 degrees and made it rear drive, with all wheel drive option.

Used transmissions from the pajero triton and it would have been a good chnace to see holden and ford worried.

Don't discount Chrysler buying tonsely back, to build rhd cars to supplement stuff coming out of graz Austria.

aualright · 13-09-2006, 04:04 PM

Here is an article from Crikey.com.au

10. Stop telling lies on Mitsubishi
By Christian Kerr

As the former senior adviser to a premier of South Australia in the nineties, take it from me – Mitsubishi is f-cked. It was back then. It’s even more f-cked now. The best thing the SA Government, the Feds and the company itself could do is stop telling lies.

Mitsubishi is the Kursk of the Australian car industry. It’s sunk. All hands are lost. The rescue efforts are a cruel hoax.

It’s not the fault of the local management. It’s not the fault of the workers. They’ve tried. But they’ve failed. They got desperate. They bet the farm on the 380 sedan. The gamble failed.

Yesterday’s ABC reports that the company’s Tonsley Park plant will close by Christmas do not appear to be accurate -- but senior sources in Canberra confirm it’s gone. It’s only a matter of when, not if.

SA seems to be on the cusp of a mining boom. The skills of Mitsubishi workers could be handy there.

This agony has been stretched out for years. It went past the cruel and unusual punishment stage long ago. It’s time to come clean and end the pain and fess up. A premier with integrity – and confidence in himself and his government – would do that.

MoreHPformyXR6 · 13-09-2006, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_au

It's actually rumours like these ones that do cause the Tonsley plant the biggest damage of all.

I agree lets hope that the rumour is a myth & MMAL continue & able to grow from this. The more 380's they can get on the road the better as its a good product.

Smoke Pursuit · 13-09-2006, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoreHPformyXR6

I agree lets hope that the rumour is a myth & MMAL continue & able to grow from this. The more 380's they can get on the road the better as its a good product.

How can they grow when sales are falling and the markets getting tougher?? Not to mention the fact that their sales are driven by Fleet purchases only, the amount of private sale 380s is something like 10%, as the uncertainty grows the fleet sales will drop, leaving them with an empty market place.

They have only sold 12,000 cars for the last 11 months, thats only half what they needed to break even let alone make money and that was at the original retail pricing, which they have slashed by up to 15% on some models (basically the cream). I think they are doing serious damage to the industry by not taking the medicine and trying to either sell out thier infrastructure or atleast saving some jobs through building other models here, like the lancer.

Paxton · 13-09-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

How can they grow when sales are falling and the markets getting tougher?? Not to mention the fact that their sales are driven by Fleet purchases only, the amount of private sale 380s is something like 10%, as the uncertainty grows the fleet sales will drop, leaving them with an empty market place.

They have only sold 12,000 cars for the last 11 months, thats only half what they needed to break even let alone make money and that was at the original retail pricing, which they have slashed by up to 15% on some models (basically the cream). I think they are doing serious damage to the industry by not taking the medicine and trying to either sell out thier infrastructure or atleast saving some jobs through building other models here, like the lancer.

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.

**Bluehoon** · 13-09-2006, 06:56 PM

They didn't really offer much with the 380 did they?

:

No performance / sports. Just a plain and ordinary boring car.

Best to wait and see what happens - too many jobs at stake....

LethalLeigh · 13-09-2006, 08:21 PM

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? Secondly, the car was based heavily off of the American Galant because Mitsubishi Japan would not justify the cost of a clean sheet design for such a small elcectic market like Australia.

Also, the ABC and their reports on Mitsubishi are stating to get beyond the joke and are doing more damage to sales than not building a RWD vehicle. Personally, I think Holden will send their component suppliers broke before Mitsubishi closes the plant.

Finally, job losses aside, it won't be the end of Mitsubishi as a car company here, there just won't be any 380s on the forecourt. There is plenty of imported product to back themselves up with.

Dave_au · 13-09-2006, 09:02 PM

^ As LethalLeigh said, MMAL is actually making a profit from their imported car sales and is actually sending dividends back each quarter to MMC.

Worst case scenario is that MMAL will pull a Nissan and be an importer only. Slightly ironic with Nissan ceasing production in Australia too - considering that Nissan was building Patrols (from memory?) and Pulsars out here - and what does everyone want now? A small car, about the size of a pulsar.....