Mitsubishi hopes new wacky ads will win you over - Fortune
And then there is Mitsubishi Motors, a brand that has fallen to near obscurity here, with less than. A former niche player, it is now fighting to regain the attention of U. S. consumers in a market crowded with stronger, more familiar and better financed competitors. This month, Mitsubishi is introducing a revamped Outlander compact crossover utility vehicle (CUV) to compete against well-established models like the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. (The Outlander will be at dealerships later this month. ) With a restyled front and a hundred improvements over the previous model, such as a new continuously variable transmission and redesigned interior, Outlander – starting at about $22,995 — $200 less than last year – offers a credible alternative... “Ours is the one you buy when you want to be a little bit different than everyone else in the neighborhood,” Francine Harsini, Mitsubishi’s director of marketing, told Fortune. The Japanese automaker fell on hard times after a longtime alliance with Chrysler went awry following the latter’s 1998 acquisition by Daimler AG. Daimler bought a controlling interest in publicly-owned Mitsubishi, but later balked at investing... In 2004, Mitsubishi was denounced in Japan when it admitted to covering up vehicle defects instead of reporting them, as required. Source: fortune.com
