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Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum

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Mart said:
The question seems to remain, "Can Mitsubishi sell this car?"
No, I don't think that's the question. The question is "Does Mitsubishi want to sell this car?"

So far, with zero advertising, sparse shipments, and many dealers quoting long order times (5 months???) and expressing doubt as to how many (if any) they'll ever see, the answer would appear to be, "No, they really don't." And heck, if we're to believe what we're hearing about the Outlander P-HEV, that they haven't come to America because they still haven't caught up with JDM and EU demand and sales are constrained only by battery supply, then maybe that's understandable (i.e., do you put your limited supply of batteries in $25k microcars or $45k CUVs? Let me think....)

But then, why this very attractive re-launch price/package? And with the simplified configuration (all U.S. cars are identical except for color) why not just hold inventory at the ports (and/or the factory grounds at Normal IL) and quickly ship to order?

Seriously, what the hell are these guys doing? :?
 
I know that they don't have the money to revamp the production line, but if they wanted sales to skyrocket, they should have built the CA-Miev concept car with the quoted 186 mile range.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/05/mitsubishi-concept-ca-miev-geneva-2013/

mitsubishi-concept-genf-007-CA-MIEV.jpg


04-mitsubishi-ca-miev-concept-geneva.jpg
 
The looks of the i-MiEV are middling, neither attractive or unattractive to me.
But that concept car would have made me run to the test drive!

As it is, my Smart ED is an unusual looking car itself, and that is one of my reasons for buying it.

My feeling is that Mitsubishi came in to the EV game early using their compact car platform, whereas they might have been better served selling something no one else at the time (or today) offer in the US, namely, an SUV platform EV/plugin.

The Volt is a superior driving vehicle, both faster and more flexible. It is more $$, but not exceedingly so.
The Leaf is more luxurious inside, and less quirk on the outside, and is manufactured in goodly volumes in the US.

Meanwhile, the i-MiEV was sold in smaller numbers with a reduced dealer set compared to those other two more successful offerings.
 
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