Mitsubishi dealers are in for a rush of new product, including a new Outlander PHEV and a Mirage sedan. But one vehicle that won’t be arriving is an all-new sedan based on a Renault-Samsung vehicle.
The plan, which called for Renault-Samsung sedans to be sold as Mitsubishi vehicles in North America, has apparently stalled. According to Automotive News, Mitsubishi’s Don Swearingen told dealers at the NADA conference that the plan had hit an unspecified roadblock.
Mitsubishi has no D-segment sedan and an aging Lancer that competes in the C-segment. The deal with Renault-Samsung was said to provide vehicles for both segments.
Earlier this month, Renault-Samsung released the SM5 Nova, an all-new sedan that was likely to become a Mitsubishi branded sedan.
You know you are in trouble when you are a mainstream automaker, and a “rush” of new product consists of a mediocre Penalty Box and a mediocre SUV.
That would be true if the mainstream automaker were dependent on US sales and it’s product mix. Fortunately for Mitsubishi, its product mix outside the US is much larger, and its global sales are close to 1.2 million vehicles annually. With half their sales in Japan and most of their exports and foreign assembly outside of the US, Mitsubishi can wiggle a toe in the US market with a limited line up indefinitely.
They must have read my post when this was originally reported, and thought better about their actions!
I suppose this means the Subaru/Kitchenaid deal is in trouble, too.
Don’t forget about the legendary Pontiac/Rubbermaid deal that ran throughout the 90’s.
Also if history has taught us a lesson, it’s that adding a bunch of Renaults to your lineup is not the way to resurrect your dying auto brand…
I believe you have confused that with the Volvo/Trojan “Safe Penetrator Z5”
Uh oh. Maybe Nissan objected?
Samsung would need Renault-Nissan approval initially to even begin these sorts of talks. They’re a minority owner in the company, and I’d imagine are only there to provide the reputable Samsung name for SK residents. If they just called it a Renault, sales would plummet.
Samsung has no say in the matter as Renault controls Renault Samsung (Renault holds an 80.1% interest).
And as for the name, sales of GM-Daewoo jumped upon the change-over from Daewoo badging to Chevy badging (Chevy rebadging kits were very popular prior to the change).
The hold-up would be on Nissan’s end, but probably something else since Nissan had no problem with the Infiniti Q70/Nissan Fuga sold as a rebadged Mitsubishi Proudia and Renault is about to launch a Qashqai competitor, the Kadjar, in Europe.
Except the handful of Dignitys and Proudias that Mitsubishi sells won’t make much difference to Nissan’s share of the relatively small JDM large sedan segment that Toyota dominates. A rebadged Altima, however, would be that much more competition in a segment that Nissan is trying to match Honda and Toyota.
Nissan would object, as the SM5 is basically the L32 Altima. Granted, Nissan has moved on to the L33, though I’m sure Mitsubishi intends to undercut in pricing.
I hope this is because both the SM3 and SM5 will get a replacement very soon. If not, Mitsubishi is screwed. Well, if they are replacing the Lancer with a Renault they are already screwed anyway…
The solution is simple. Partner with Mazda since they are always desperately looking for partners and sell an already excellent Mazda 6 as the new Lancer. Drop in an improved 4B11T with direct injection and add a sixth gear to the transmission for a new Evo XI. Mazda in turn would sell more vehicles and could get use of the Evo drivetrain to produce a new AWD Mazdaspeed 3 and possibly a new Mazdaspeed 6.
Not to quibble, but wouldn’t Mazda 6 be equivalent to the Galant? I would have thought the Lancer would equate to the Mazda 3.
But then, it’s been a lot of years since I was looking at cars like these.
Eh, I was kinda looking forward to it, especially the larger car. Dont ask why, hell, I dont even know why, lol!
The SM5 (Teana) and SM7 (Teana-L) are just different Altimas, which you can have here any day of the week. Go for it!