30/5/06

Troubled Mitsubishi has publicly acknowledged that it could pull out of the US market.

In a surprising statement, the company's most senior product development executive said that the forthcoming Outlander Mark 2 and new Lancer have "to be successful for us to stay in business in the U.S.". The US has always been the most important export market for Japanese vehicles - without sales there, the viability of a Japanese car company is seriously in doubt. In 2002, Mitsubishi sold 345,000 cars in the USA, but that fell to 124,000 in 2005.

After years of trying to cover up its problems, Mitsubishi has gone to the other extreme. In order to show how much it has changed, it seems to have become the company most willing to discuss critical issues.