2003 Mitsubishi Galant Es Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Masuko to step down as Mitsubishi Motors CEO, Kato to succeed him

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp said on Friday that Osamu Masuko will step down as its chief executive on June 21 and be replaced by Takao Kato, who is president of its operations in Indonesia. Masuko will retain his role as chairman of the board, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement, adding that Masuko and Kato will hold a press conference on May 20 to discuss the changes. Japan's sixth-largest automaker, in which Nissan Motor Co holds a controlling stake, said this month it expects profit to fall to 90.0 billion yen ($821 million) in the year to March as it navigates slowing demand for cars, global trade frictions and the need to develop new technologies. Mitsubishi's partners Nissan and France's Renault are meanwhile grappling with the fallout from the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the group's former chairman, who is facing charges of financial misconduct in Japan. Ghosn has denied all charges against him. Reporting by Stanley White.

Mitsubishi fuel economy scandal will result in $1.39 billion loss

The fuel economy scandal revealed a couple months ago will cost Mitsubishi Motors a pretty penny. According to The New York Times, the Japanese automaker predicted the fiscal year 2016 will result in a loss of 145 billion yen, or $1.39 billion. We won't know for sure until March rolls around. The prediction is even more striking when compared to Mitsubishi's performance during the last few years. It will be Mitsubishi's first reported loss in eight years. In 2014, Mitsubishi reported a global profit of $1.2 billion, which doubled the profits of the previous year, and in the spring of 2015 the US arm of the manufacturer reported its first profits in seven years – $4.18 million. For a little while there, it seemed like things were looking really good for Mitsubishi, but past flaws caught up with it. Some of the models built have had their fuel economy readings rounded by as much as 15 percent, due to the way running resistance is calculated in laboratory conditions. Nissan swept in to buy one third of Mitsubishi, and under the Renault-Nissan alliance it is likely Mitsubishi will be put on a crash course to clear its name and start turning a profit again. But the bad publicity caused by the scandal will probably mean it'll be far in the future. Related Video:

Mitsubishi and Renault-Nissan expand partnership, US will get new sedan

Mitsubishi and Renault-Nissan have just inked an alliance that might, hopefully, reverse the ailing fortunes of the Mitsubishi brand in the US market. The big chunk of news is that Mitsubishi will produce two Renualt-based models for sale in the US market, and that they'll be built at the Renault-Samsung factory in Busan, South Korea.
The plans call for a D-segment sedan to be followed by a C-segment offering. Based on the cars built at the Busan factory, that means Mitsubishi will be getting the SM5 and the SM3, a pair of handsome sedans that are based on Renault-Nissan's D and C platforms, respectively. These same platforms underpin a number of US market Nissans (not to mention a number of cars from Renault), namely the Pathfinder, Maxima, Quest and Murano for the D platform and the last-generation Rogue and Sentra for the C platform.
Besides the sedan production, Nissan and Mitsubishi will be expanding their joint-venture company, NMKV, which produces Kei cars for the Japanese market. A new, all-electric offering will be born from the partnership, likely based on a Kei car platform. The partnership between the three brands will also lead to increased sharing of technology, particularly relating to electric cars.