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Mitsubishi leaving US? No, it's doubling its marketing budget

We rarely hear any major news coming out of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) annual meeting in Orlando, FL, but Mitsubishi executives found this a fitting place to announce a big push for increased advertising here in the US. A report in Automotive News states that the struggling Japanese automaker is returning to advertising in prime time television for the first time since 2005, with the push slated to begin in June and July for the launch of the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander shown above.
Despite dwindling sales and a shrinking lineup, Mitsubishi's new North American chairman, Gayu Uesugi, has said on multiple occasions that the automaker has no plans to abandon the US market. Spending extra money on marketing and advertising should be a good start to help improve sales, but a lack of fresh and competitive products is also keeping showrooms empty. Aside from the new Outlander, the AN report says that Mitsubishi spokesman Roger Yasukawa said that a "yet-to-be-named subcompact" will arrive this year, which suggests the unnamed hatchback shown below (known elsewhere as the Mirage), could be heading to the US after its North American introduction at the Montreal Auto Show last month.

Mitsubishi teases 2016 Outlander ahead of New York debut

Mitsubishi really disappointed lots of people at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show when it initially teased "The Return of a Legend." That over-hyped unveiling was really just the North American debut of the GC-PHEV, first shown at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. The Japanese automaker is getting a second chance to impress with its hook to "Come See the New Face of Mitsubishi Motors" at the New York Auto Show on April 2. Maybe the company can do a little bit better this time, even if the surprise is already spoiled. Mitsubishi announced that it would unveil the refreshed 2016 Outlander in the Big Apple a month ago in Chicago. It's almost certainly the vehicle on display on the brand's invitation, above. While the single shot shows off a design very reminiscent of the current model, earlier spy shots indicate changes are in store for both the front fascia and much of the rear end. A look in the vein of the Outlander PHEV Concept-S from the 2014 Paris Motor Show seems likely. The restyling is also rumored to be timed with the plug-in hybrid version's US debut. However, after that vehicle's multiple delays, it might be best to wait and see.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV selling well in Netherlands

Talk about a Dutch treat. Mitsubishi says sales of its Outlander Plug-in Hybrid are brisk in Europe, helped in a big way by plug-in vehicle tax incentives in the Netherlands that are getting more people there to buy the world's first production plug-in hybrid CUV. The Japanese automaker has taken more than 12,000 orders for the model from Europeans and had delivered about 8,200 of them as of the end of last year, all but 200 of which were to the Netherlands. Mitsubishi will start broader sales throughout the continent this year and is also expected to start sales in the US by next year. The company is looking for plug-ins to account for 20 percent of its global sales by the end of the decade. Mitsubishi, which also sells the model in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, hopes to reach an annual production rate of 50,000 Outlander PHEVs by the end of the year. Last August, the company resumed full-scale battery production after shutting things down for a few months for a safety probe stemming from a short-circuiting issue. The Outlander PHEV can run for 32 miles on electric power alone and gets a European-rated 124 miles per gallon. Check out Mitsubishi's press release on its Euro sales below. MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER PHEV CY13 SALES – EUROPEAN INAUGURATION With a plan for EVs and EV-derived PHEVs to represent 20% of its global sales by 2020, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has set itself an ambitious, yet realistic target. More so in Europe, Mitsubishi Motors' largest market for these technologies. 12,000+ orders / 8,000+ deliveries In this respect, the successful sales launch of Outlander PHEV in Europe – MMC's first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and forerunner of a wider PHEV range – tends to vindicate the Corporation's objectives. First launched in selected markets (The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland) from October 2013,Outlander PHEV has collected over 12,000 orders in Europe and these have already translated into 8,197 deliveries to end-customers by the end of December, of which 8,009 units for The Netherlands, the latter boosted by a tax scheme favourable to eco-friendly technologies such as low-emission vehicles. With more cars currently on their way to Europe, Mitsubishi Motor Sales Netherlands will soon be able to deliver the 11,000+ orders currently in its books and growing.