Mitsubishi interested in supplying Saturn dealers?
Regardless of what entity General Motors eventually unloads its network of 380 Saturn dealerships upon, it's not planning to continue supplying vehicles to the displaced automaker past 2011 at the latest. This being the case, the majority of prospective Saturn bidders will need to find an alternate source for cars and trucks to stock its newly purchased showroom floors. But who?
According to The Detroit News, both Mitsubishi and Nissan are in talks with various parties that are considering making a bid for Saturn. Of those two options, Mitsubishi seems to make a bit more sense as it only has about 430 dealerships in the U.S. and it is therefore not nearly as well represented as Nissan. However, Nissan has a much deeper product portfolio and it already demonstrated that it is capable of selling in significantly higher sales volumes. At this point, it's unclear whether the Nissan or Mitsubishi-supplied vehicles would be badged and sold as Saturns, but given Mitsubishi's damaged reputation in the States (save the Evo), selling its wares under a brand with a reputation for strong customer service and ownership satisfaction could be just the opening it needs to find success in the U.S. market.
In related news, the DetNews is also reporting that the list of potential bidders for Saturn has been whittled down to "two or three," which likely includes Penske Automotive Group, Magna International and investor group Telesto Ventures.
[Source: Detroit News]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jon B 4:44PM (5/22/2009)
Mitsubishi sells cars in the US still? They sold 4k units in April. That means those 430 dealerships sold 9 cars each in April. I predict Mitsubishi will be out of the states soon. They have no volume car in the pipeline that will make it worth buying more dealerships let alone drive sales in their existing dealerships.
Reply
Tourian 5:17PM (5/22/2009)
But the company overall turned a profit. Small, yes but they were in the black. Obviously they must be confident that they can sell more cars if they had more dealers in key areas AND if they are planning to bring more product.
Shiftright 5:18PM (5/22/2009)
Mitsubishi makes damn good cars. Everyone I've known that has had one has raved about their reliability and durability. Their problem is lack of desirability. Galant/ Evo and Outlander aside, the styling of their cars is meh...
Sea Urchin 5:36PM (5/22/2009)
Well Galant is blahhh, but Lancer/Evo are great
Frank 8:36PM (5/23/2009)
Mitsu is rated near the bottom in the JD Powers surveys, only better than VW, Land Rover, and Suzuki. A few years ago they had scandal involving warranty claims that cost the CEO his job. The Caliber/Compass/Patriot from Chrysler that everyone likes to rag on is basically a modified Mitsu platform. Saturn would be better off going out of existence than selling rebadged Mitsus.
ello 10:26PM (5/23/2009)
@Frank, depends which surveys you look at, JD Powers measures only initial quality, and when you actually look deeper into statistics you will see that Mitsubishi makes two types of cars for US market, Japanese made (Lancer/Outlander) and US made (Glanat/Eclipse/Endeavor). Look at Consumer Report and long term reliability and you'll see that Lancer and Outlander are right up there, the US made ones are about average though. Anyway, as far as Caliber/Compass/Patriot go, funny thing is that again, Lancer/Outlander (similar platform to the three mention Dodge/Jeep cars) and yet Mitsubishi cars look better plus they get much higher reliability ratings, so.... if I am guessing that US assembly workers are sleeping on the job at Jeep/Dodge plants plus Mitsubishi didn't design interior/exterior aesthetic features so you can't blame them. It's basically a bad execution on Dodge/Jeep part, Mitsubishi Lancer platform is one of the best in its price range. Besides, Mitsubishi, considering todays market conditions, is actually doing decent worldwide so their automtive division isn't going anywhere, they are doing very well in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe (especially Russia), Middle East, and Asia.
Mitsubishi will be fine, they just shifted their strategy to EV cars and will be one of the first auto manufacturers to release EVs on US market. The only problem with Mitsubishi in US market is their lack of marketing, their product compared to competition is fine, they are not the best but certainly far from the worst, if the new Outlander or Lancer had a Honda/Toyota badge on them they would sell thousands more of them. Reality is that the Japanese made Mitsus are one of the most reliable cars in their respective segments.
len simpson 4:45PM (5/22/2009)
Mitsu should buy Saturn,lock, stock & dealerships & drop the name mitsubishi in favor of Saturn worldwide.
Reply
tim templeton 5:00PM (5/22/2009)
...And not tell anyone what they did!
Quarry 5:08PM (5/22/2009)
Please just let it die! If you love something set it free.........
Reply
bh 5:16PM (5/22/2009)
Saturn could be an outlet for Mitsubishi to sell the products it doesn't offer in the US. A lineup of Colt, i, and Grandis under the Saturn name would do well to go back to the brand's original function. Mitsubishi also has lots of partnerships worldwide, so perhaps they could even find someone else to add a compact and midsize sedan to that line for added volume.
Reply
adam1drift 5:50PM (5/22/2009)
I dont care much about what Brand will supply the cars... what i want to know is that if Penske is the new owner of saturn does that mean they drop all the Porsches in their racing programs and start racing in the New Saturn Race Car... developed (hopefully) by Penske ??????
Reply
jason 6:18PM (5/22/2009)
All of the Mitsubishi dealers I've seen are buildings are hand-me-down, dumpy buildings/lots (same goes for KIA). The Mistu dealer closest to me is in a building formerly occupied by a Hyundai-Subaru franchise. The Hyundai-Subie dealer moved to a much nicer-looking spot nearby.
Saturn dealerships are among the nicest of any mainstream brand. Typically, they're clean and welcoming with friendly, knowledgeable employees. Too bad their cars suck (Astra & Aura only kinda suck). The Lancer, Galant, Eclipse and Outlander would be a better model line-up than Saturn has ever had!
Reply
Tourian 9:38AM (5/23/2009)
Exactly. Now would be a good time to scoop up a bunch of reasonably modern facilties for dirt cheap. The building design would not clash with Mitsu mission statement of clean, small, fuel effecient cars. And yeah, must Mitsu dealers are rundown hand me downs.
James 12:50PM (5/23/2009)
Your Mitsu dealer sounds like a dealership I know near/at the City of Industry, CA...an old ragtag building formerly a Subie/Hyundai dealer, now a Mitsu with one of their cars on display on the roof facing the 60fwy.
James 12:50PM (5/23/2009)
Your Mitsu dealer sounds like a dealership I know near/at the City of Industry, CA...an old ragtag building formerly a Subie/Hyundai dealer, now a Mitsu with one of their cars on display on the roof facing the 60fwy.
inline6 6:29PM (5/22/2009)
This makes zero sense to me. Does Mitsubishi really need 400-some more dealers, most of which would only compete in areas they've already got dealers in?
The only possible benefit to Mitsubishi that I see is if they used Saturn as their own Scion-type brand and brought the Colt and i over to run in this market.
But why wouldn't they just brand them as Mitsubishis and sell them out of their own dealer network in the first place?
This seems really silly to me.
Reply
jakes 6:42PM (5/22/2009)
What about the new Endeavor 2010 and Galant 2011 and Eclipse 2011?
Also, they are going to refresh the Outlander and maybe bring the Montero back.
Reply
mikecanada 7:18PM (5/22/2009)
I'm surprised that Mitsubishi is still in business in America. Here in Canada, there are so few dealers and so few sold, it's like they're not even in business here. Same goes for Suzuki. I have no idea how they make money.
Reply
Lar 7:21PM (5/22/2009)
I like this idea. Would gladly consider a Saturn-dressed Lancer Sportbak (sp?), especially named Ion. How about Ion5.
"[G]iven Mitsubishi's damaged reputation in the States ... selling its wares under a brand with a reputation for strong customer service and ownership satisfaction could be just the opening it needs to find success in the U.S. market."
I think so too.
Reply
Iridium 9:06PM (5/22/2009)
Mitsubishi makes some of the finest engines in the world, very close behind BMW. It is just too bad what's attached to the engine isn't as good as some of the competitors.
If you look at the automotive landscape today, Mitsubishi derived engines and platforms are used in quite a few vehicles. That is one reason why the company is actually doing alright. I see more Lancers driving around everyday.
If Mitsubishi took over Saturn lots it would give them great showrooms. I agree with a few of you that Mitsu lots stink. Many of them look like relics from the 1970s that were never updated.
Reply