- Mitsubishi’s dealers have sent a letter to company execs urging them to take action.
- Dealers are struggling to sell cars from an aging lineup, with average costs creeping up.
- Mitsubishi’s North American CEO says the company is listening and making changes.
There’s very little positive news coming out of the Mitsubishi camp. It appears that the company is focusing on an aging lineup of crossover SUVs and leveraging its partnership with the Renault-Nissan alliance to fill the gaps with rebadges. There was hope that things would turn around with the mooted Nissan-Honda merger, but with that now dead in the water, U.S. dealers are getting frustrated.
There are multiple problems at play. The three diamond’s dated lineup cannot be ignored, with cars like the Outlander Sport dating back to 2011 and the Eclipse Cross last redesigned in 2021. Meanwhile, stocks of the now discontinued subcompact Mirage—the brand’s second-best seller—will run out by the summer, with no replacement is expected for the U.S. market.
Rising Prices, Rising Tensions
Dealers aren’t happy: so much so that they’re trying to get the attention of company executives by sending a letter to Mitsubishi Motors North America CEO Mark Chaffin and Mitsubishi Motors CEO Takao Kato. “Swift action is needed to keep your dealer body engaged in selling new vehicles,” reads the letter, reviewed by Auto News.
Read: Mitsubishi Sues Its Own Dealer For Redirecting Cars To VW Service And Violating Branding Rules
According to information provided by dealers in the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Mitsubishi Group, profits are down. In 2023, the average dealer profit as a percentage of sales was 2.2 percent. In 2024, that dropped significantly to just 0.92 percent. In the Midwest, it’s reported that four out of 15 Mitsubishi stores went out of business in a year, while another says they’re losing $80,000 a month.
In addition to an aging lineup, prices are creeping up. The Outlander got a mildly refreshed look for 2025, but also a $1,250 price bump. In fact, according to data from Cox Automotive, over the last four years, the average sticker price of a brand-new Mitsubishi rose by a whopping 22 percent to $31,338 last year. Meanwhile, incentives are down, too, with the brand spending 26 percent less during the same period.
“Mitsubishi has made it difficult to make any money on new cars,” said an anonymous retailer speaking to Automotive News. The individual said that they had lost $1 million at each of his stores last year. “Not many people come in wanting to buy a Mitsubishi that isn‘t the Outlander.”
Light At The End Of The Tunnel?
There may be some light at the end of the tunnel for aggrieved retailers. A promised new wave of products is expected in 2026, with an all-new EV for North America being added to the lineup next year. But dealers still think they’re fighting with one hand tied behind their back, especially as brands such as Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia have offerings across the board, right here and now.
Mistusbishi’s North American CEO, Mark Chaffin, claims that the brand is listening and taking action. The company is considering offering more dealer cash to close sales, and in the last quarter of 2024, the automaker reworked the dealer margin structure to offset higher floorplan costs, added trade-in assistance rebates, and boosted volume bonus payments while lowering monthly sales targets.
But is it enough? A risk is that Mitsubishi’s dealers will instead be forced to focus on used car sales. And with lots of nearly-new fleet cars coming back to retailers and the lackluster appeal of the company’s current offerings, it’s expected that dealerships may be forced to survive off of hugely discounted used cars.
