No Mitsu for You: Brand Holds American Imports – for now
Responding to the ever-changing tariff tax landscape in America, the crew at Mitsubishi has – for the moment – halted the shipping of additional inventory to dealers in this country.
“We are holding vehicles at the port until we have additional visibility on tariffs and decisions made on next steps,” spox from Mitsu told reporters at Automotive News. They went on to point out the company has roughly 100 days of inventory already on the ground, a sum which apparently equates to just over 20,000 machines. Most of those are at dealers already; Mitsu has 330 dealerships in America, if you’re wondering.
Every new vehicle currently sold by Mitsubishi in the United States is assembled in Japan, meaning they are impacted by the 25 percent tariff tax on imported vehicles, a policy which went into effect during the first week of April. It is worth noting that Mitsu has an alliance with Nissan, a company which does have a manufacturing presence in America – some of which is reportedly underutilized. While it is true the days of simply swapping a grille and trunk badging are long gone, it is also true that the Outlander (Mitsu’s most popular model) and the Rogue share a platform. Still, there would be many hurdles to clear if both machines were to roll off the same assembly line.
Mitsubishi sold 109,843 vehicles in America last year. The cessation of imports, no matter how temporary, could hamper growth efforts – especially if the pause drags on. Through to the end of Q1 this year, total sales for the brand are up 11 percent compared to the same timeframe in 2024, with 31,637 vehicles sold. Eagle eyes will note that 71 percent of that 3,234 unit gain came from the little Mirage, a discontinued model which saw 7,301 takers in Q1 compared to 5,003 units in Q1 last year.
[Image: Mitsubishi]
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Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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Mitsubishi was always cold on US sales. Wouldn't do coop ad buy ins with regional dealers and didn't care how car business ran in this country so dealers had to produce brand awareness from the ground up at each dealer for every purchase. Not only high effort but often odd, not always attractive. The mfg. kick in for this sort of ongoing coordinated marketing presence is important to the cost of vehicles (including days on lot) and the ease of dealers moving enough of the right units. It's just a guess by individual dealers without that kind planning and cost sharing support.
A local Subaru dealer also sold Buick and Mitsubishi. Sales and finance folks grumbled about Mitsubishi, service mgr. complained about the GM warranty work orders, complimented Subaru but admitted Mitsu was a rare sale so they weren't represented enough to really say, buyers seemed to sell or trade if not leave the area and not return for service. Most techs wanted to train for Subaru. They dropped GM and Mitsubishi, Subaru inventory filled their whole lot and adjacent property expansions. It's not just the product or the dealer, it's how the company works with those dealers individually and regionally that makes a good car for a buyer.
Mitsubishi's lack of commitment to US sales seems to be a touchy scar from their '80s involvement with Chrysler Dodge. The Big Three they brand engineered for was doing model placement, marketing and regional co-op ads and it was the last time they seemingly styled product for the US. A long soured producer to US car buyers. Good riddance.
Just like Chrysler, Dodge and Nissan, Mitsubishi is history!