Kawaii! Mitsubishi And PSA To Make Babies
After on-again and off-again attempts at an Eurasian marriage ( which I would unreservedly endorse,) Mitsubishi and PSA are doing the thing currently en vogue in Europe: Live happily in sin, and produce little ones. Very little ones.
Mitsubishi Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen Group are chatting about small cars produced by Mitsubishi for the unmarried couple, says The Nikkei [sub]. Details should be hashed-out by the end of the year.
The cars would be 1.0-1.3 liter midgetmobiles, which Mitsubishi wants to unleash onto rapidly emerging markets. Mitsu will start making them in Thailand this year, then the idea is to expand mass production to the usual suspects: China, India and Brazil. Annual production target 400,000 to 500,000 units. Mitsubishi wants to keep the price below $10,000.
Of course, they are eyeing the Japanese and European market as well, and this is where PSA comes in. PSA would sell the motorized rug rats under the Peugeot and Citroen brands in Europe and elsewhere.
This deal expands on existing cohabitations with electric cars and SUVs
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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This is much different to the two bastard micro cars PSA already makes and sells with its tie up with Toyota? The C1 and Peugeot 107?
How is the market in China for $10K midgetmobiles? Is that what the Chinese buyers are really looking for, and PSA-Mitsubishi have discovered an underserved market segment? Or ... ?