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Mitsubishi Motors shareholders approve ouster of Ghosn

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shareholders approved on Friday the ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the Japanese automaker's three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year. The vote took place in a two-hour general meeting of shareholders at a Tokyo hotel. Nissan Motor Co. owns 34% of Mitsubishi Motors. Osamu Masuko, who was reappointed chairman, promised to strengthen governance and transparency and monitor wrongdoing. More outsiders will check executive appointments and compensation, he said. Nissan shareholders held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April to oust Ghosn as chairman. He resigned from French alliance partner Renault SA. The Mitsubishi shareholders also approved the appointment of Renault's chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn. Renault owns 43% of Nissan. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, is holding a general shareholders' meeting next week to approve other measures, including setting up committees to strengthen governance. Nissan said late Thursday two Renault executives will be on the committees. Renault earlier said it would abstain in that vote, and the greater representation promised on the committees may gain Renault's approval. Renault said in a statement that it welcomed Nissan's decision but did not say how it planned to vote. "The agreement reached on Renault's presence in Nissan's new governance confirms the spirit of dialogue and mutual respect that exists within the alliance," it said. Some analysts suggest a deepening rift between Renault and Nissan after a planned merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler fell through earlier this month. Nissan expressed reservations about immediately joining the merger. Masuko told shareholders the auto industry faced challenges because of the costs of advancements such as emissions standards and self-driving technology. He said the Tokyo-based automaker will pursue focus over expansion, repeatedly highlighting the company motto "small but beautiful." He also stressed the importance of auto alliances. "We want to be a profitable company even if smaller in scale," he told shareholders. One Mitsubishi Motors shareholder expressed anger over the Ghosn scandal. But most of the questions were about new models and market strategy.

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 expects a massive loss this year due to the coronavirus pandemic

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors reported Monday a $1.7 billion (176 billion yen) loss for April-June, and forecast more red ink for the fiscal year, as the coronavirus pandemic slammed auto demand around the world. The Japanese automaker had posted a profit of 9.3 billion yen for the fiscal first quarter the previous year. Quarterly sales shrank 57% to $2.2 billion (229.5 billion yen). The maker of the Outlander sport utility vehicle and I-MiEV electric car expects to chalk up a $3.4 billion (360 billion yen) loss for the fiscal year through March 2021, because of the fallout from the outbreak. This would be MitsubishiÂ’s biggest loss in at least 18 years, according to company financial records dating back to 2002. “To pave the way to recovery, the top priority of all executives is to share a sense of crisis with employees to execute cost reductions,” Chief Executive Takeo Kato told reporters. The shaky results come as Mitsubishi MotorsÂ’ alliance partners Nissan and Renault of France work to recover from the downfall of their former chairman, Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn was out on bail, awaiting trial on various financial misconduct allegations in Tokyo, when he fled late last year to Lebanon. He has said he is innocent of the allegations of under-reporting future compensation and breach of trust. Mitsubishi Motors has denounced Ghosn. Mitsubishi officials, in a news conference relayed in a call to reporters, promised a turnaround, pursuing growth in Southeast Asian markets, where its profitability is relatively strong, and building on its strength in four-wheel drive and “off road performance.” They said they expect the companyÂ’s results to recover next fiscal year, once COVID-19 is brought under control. Product development will leverage “synergies” with alliance partners, and labor costs will be cut through pay cuts, hiring freezes and voluntary retirements, the automaker said. Tokyo-based Mitsubishi also said itÂ’s working on innovative technology, such as improved diesel engines, electric vehicles and autonomous driving. Its electric vehicles are a strength as environmental standards continue to toughen, especially in major markets like China, it said. But it warned the outbreakÂ’s impact on auto demand was worse than what the auto market suffered during the 2008 financial crisis and so a recovery will take time.